U.S.-Kenya IRES: Origins of Human Adaptability

技术说明此美国-肯尼亚国际学生研究经验（IRES）：人类适应性的起源建立在Koobi Fora研究和培训计划（KFRTP）的成功基础上，并将为人类学，考古学，地质学，解剖学和古生物学的综合培训和研究制定新的框架。我们物种最近进化史的证据无疑具有社会和科学重要性;然而，尽管有丰富的化石，考古，分子和古生态学数据，但现代人类关键行为的进化以及环境变化对人类进化的影响等基本问题仍然知之甚少。这可以归因于在强调合作研究的氛围中，很少有学生接受分析，实验和概念技能的培训，这些技能现在可用于测试进化假说。这个IRES项目将为美国学生提供一个机会，以获得研究经验，调查200万至140万年前存在于Koobi Fora的人类物种的适应性，这是一个重大气候变化的时期，标志着我们血统的解剖学，生物学和行为的最戏剧性的转变。这项研究的最终目标是从Koobi Fora获得化石和考古数据，以评估这一假设：早更新世人类种群的生物学和行为变化标志着将我们的谱系与其他人类区分开来的独特特征的进化，并为我们物种的起源提供了框架。这个IRES项目将在全国范围内招募至少21名美国本科生和研究生，重点关注在STEM领域代表性不足的学生，并将每个学生嵌入团队，对重大气候变化背景下人类适应性的起源进行前沿研究。培训活动将分阶段进行（准备，实地考察和项目完成研讨会），为期三个学期，之后将通过演讲和出版物继续进行。每个学生将：1）通过与肯尼亚北方Koobi Fora地层考古和古生物学沉积物的领先国际学者一起设计和开展原创研究项目来产生新知识，2）使用最先进的方法收集和分析数据，3）在美国的后续研讨会和专业发展研讨会上综合并展示研究结果，以及4）与史密森学会的国家自然历史博物馆一起参与公众对科学理解的培训（华盛顿）和麦克韦恩科学中心（Mc Wane Science Center）（伯明翰，亚拉巴马）。更广泛的描述这个项目提供了一些可衡量的影响，包括促进跨学科和国际合作，公开传播学生的研究成果，并培训和激励一些最优秀的美国学生从事科学事业。生物人类学和考古学是独特的跨学科“门户”领域，该项目旨在招募学生，否则他们将很少接触STEM研究和与传统STEM领域的学者合作的跨学科项目。该项目的影响包括：（1）培训三批来自不同背景的学生，使他们能够在国际一级进行跨学科合作;（2）扩大非洲几个国家科学家之间的合作网络;（3）扩大非洲国家科学家之间的合作网络。（肯尼亚国家博物馆，威特沃特斯兰德大学），欧洲（牛津大学;马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所），以及美国的机构（乔治华盛顿大学、亚拉巴马大学、伯明翰大学）; 3）加强这些美国机构、伯明翰的麦克旺科学中心和史密森尼博物馆之间的联系; 4）创建数据集、同行评审出版物和公开演示，以加强学生培训并促进公众对科学的理解。

Technical DescriptionThis U.S.-Kenya International Research Experience for Students (IRES): Origins of Human Adaptability builds on the success of the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program (KFRTP) and will develop a new framework for integrated training and research in anthropology, archaeology, geology, anatomy, and paleobiology. The evidence for our species' recent evolutionary history is of unquestionable social and scientific importance; however, despite a wealth of fossil, archeological, molecular, and paleoecological data, issues as basic as the evolution of the key modern human behaviors and the effects of environmental change on human evolution remain poorly understood. This can be attributed to so few students being trained in the range of analytical, experimental and conceptual skills now available for testing evolutionary hypotheses in an atmosphere that emphasizes collaborative research. This IRES project will offer US-students an opportunity to gain research experience investigating the adaptations of hominin species that existed in Koobi Fora between 2 and 1.4 million years ago, a time period of major climatic changes that marked the most dramatic transitions in the anatomy, biology, and behavior of our lineage. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate fossil and archaeological data from Koobi Fora to evaluate the hypothesis: Changes in the biology and behaviors of hominin populations during the Early Pleistocene mark the evolution of distinctive characteristics that separated our lineage from other hominins and provided the framework for the origin of our species. Testing this hypothesis will form the basis of interdisciplinary training.This IRES project will recruit at least 21 US-undergraduate and graduate students nationwide- focusing on students underrepresented in STEM fields- and will embed each student in teams conducting cutting-edge research on the origins of human adaptability within the context of major climate changes. Training activities will take place in stages (Preparation, Fieldwork, and a Project Completion Workshop) that extend over three semesters and will continue afterwards via presentations and publications. Each student will: 1) generate new knowledge by designing and conducting an original research project with leading international scholars in the archaeological and paleontological deposits of the Koobi Fora Formation in northern Kenya, 2) collect and analyze data using state-of-the-art methods, 3) synthesize and present the findings at follow-up workshops and professional development seminars in the U.S., and 4) engage in training on the public understanding of science with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC) and the Mc Wane Science Center (Birmingham, Alabama).Broader Description This project offers a number of measurable impacts, including fostering interdisciplinary and international collaboration, publicly disseminating the students' research findings, and training and inspiring some of the best US-students to pursue careers in science. Biological Anthropology and Archaeology are uniquely situated as interdisciplinary 'gateway' fields, and this project intends to recruit students who would otherwise have little exposure to STEM research and collaborative, interdisciplinary projects with scholars in the traditional STEM fields. Impacts of the project include: 1) training three cohorts of students from diverse backgrounds in a manner that exposes them to interdisciplinary collaboration on an international level; 2) expanding the collaborative networks between scientists at several African (National Museums of Kenya, Witwatersrand U), European (Oxford U; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology), and American institutions (George Washington U, U Alabama, Birmingham); 3) strengthening connections between these US-institutions, Birmingham's Mc Wane Science Center, and the Smithsonian museum; and 4) creating datasets, peer-reviewed publications, and public presentations that will enhance student training and promote public understanding of science.