NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2014

NSF生物学博士后奖学金将研究和培训部分结合在一起，为年轻科学家在新兴领域的职业生涯做好准备，这些领域的生物学与其他科学学科交叉，在这种情况下与工程学交叉。预计这些研究员将领导国家未来的科学工作队伍。安德鲁·拉塞尔·巴宾的这一研究员研究了海洋微生物在低氧区的反应。主办机构是麻省理工学院，赞助科学家是罗曼·斯托克博士和马丁·波尔茨博士。海洋微生物进行各种生化反应，塑造它们生活的海洋的化学成分。海洋有许多不同的化学梯度，例如氧气最低限度区域，每个区域都有自己的海洋微生物群落。然而，这些微生物对自然化学梯度和短暂的底物注射产生所观察到的生物地球化学结构的基本反应机制尚不清楚。这项研究试图通过实验室和野外实验相结合的方式，从整体上了解微生物/化学相互作用和全球养分循环。细菌对氮、碳和氧的新陈代谢正在使用实验室微流体学实验来模拟，该实验旨在测试海洋微生物如何对化学梯度做出反应并与环境相互作用。在实际氧气最少区域的实地工作是对实验室实验的补充，以发展这些区域内微生物群落的高分辨率空间结构。该奖学金还提供利用流体力学和显微镜的实验室实验的设计和实施、复制微观生物和物理动力学的数值模型的开发以及分子生物学技术方面的培训。教育外展活动正在通过麻省理工学院的本科生研究计划以及与波士顿高中的教师和学生的新合作来进行，以增加对微生物海洋学的兴趣。

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biology combine research and training components to prepare young scientists for careers in emerging areas where biology intersects with other scientific disciplines, in this case with engineering. The Fellows are expected to lead the nation's scientific workforce of the future. This fellowship to Andrew Russell Babbin investigates the response of marine microbes in low oxygen zones. The host institution is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Roman Stocker and Martin Polz. Marine microbes carry out a variety of biochemical reactions that shape the chemistry of the ocean in which they live. The ocean has many and variable chemical gradients, for example, oxygen minimum zones, each with its own community of marine microbes. The fundamental mechanism by which these microorganisms respond to natural chemical gradients and ephemeral substrate injections to create the observed biogeochemical structure, however, is unknown. This research seeks an understanding of microbial/chemical interactions and global nutrient cycling as a whole by combining laboratory and field experiments. Bacterial metabolism of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen is being simulated using laboratory microfluidics experiments designed to test how marine microorganisms respond to chemical gradients and interact with their environment. Fieldwork in actual oxygen minimum zones complements the laboratory experiments to develop a high-resolution spatial structure of the microbial community within these zones.The fellowship also offers training in the design and conduct of laboratory experiments that make use of fluid mechanics and microscopy, development of numerical models that replicate microscale biological and physical dynamics, and molecular biology techniques. Educational outreach activities are being conducted through MIT's undergraduate research program and new collaborations with teachers and students at Boston high schools to increase interest in microbial oceanography.