NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

这一行动为2015财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，扩大了参与范围。该奖学金支持该研究员在东道主实验室的研究和培训计划，以及扩大科学界代表性不足群体的参与计划。索纳尔·辛格尔的这项研究计划的标题是“地理范围和多样化”。主办机构是密歇根大学，赞助科学家是丹尼尔·L·拉博斯基博士。无论我们作为一个国家认为生物多样性具有内在价值还是经济价值，或者两者兼而有之，生物多样性仍然为社会提供了重要的服务。然而，尽管物种是生物多样性的基本单位，但关于物种的许多事情仍然是一个谜。为了解决这些未知数，团契研究调查了物种的一个重要方面：物种范围。物种的范围随着时间的推移是动态的，起源、转移、扩大，有时甚至消失。是什么决定了物种范围的轨迹还不是很清楚，但它对多样性在不同景观中的积累和分布具有重要影响。这项研究综合了基因组学、系统发生学和生态学方法，以确定影响范围动态的因素。特别是，它测试了环境适宜性、扩散速度、不完全生殖隔离和生物相互作用如何允许或限制一个物种扩大其范围的能力。然后评估范围进化对整个系统发育的宏观进化动力学有什么影响(如果有的话)。这些想法正在使用已经从澳大利亚干旱和巴西新热带生物群的蜥蜴群落中收集的遗传资源和材料进行测试，因为它们是地球上最多样化的两个脊椎动物群落。主办实验室收集了大量所需材料，没有使用活动物。广泛的系统发育和地理采样确保了这些发现可以推广。培训目标包括利用计算方法获得系统发育比较方法和宏观进化分析方面的专门知识。更广泛的影响计划包括在公立学校为年轻女孩开发编程课程，与密歇根大学自然历史博物馆合作，让社区参与生物多样性科学，以及在科学研究过程中培训本科生。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Broadening Participation. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow, and a plan to broaden participation of groups under-represented in science. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Sonal Singhal is "Geographic ranges and diversification." The host institution is the University of Michigan, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Daniel L. Rabosky.Whether we as a nation see biodiversity as innately valuable or economically valuable, or both, it remains that that biodiversity provides important services to society. Yet, although species are the fundamental unit of biodiversity, much about species are a mystery. To address these unknowns, the fellowship research investigates an important aspect of species: the species range. Species ranges are dynamic through time, originating, shifting, expanding, and sometimes even disappearing. What determines the trajectory of species ranges is not well-understood; but it has important implications for the accumulation and distribution of diversity across landscapes. The research integrates genomic, phylogenetic, and ecological approaches to determine factors that influence range dynamics. In particular, it tests how environmental suitability, dispersal rates, incomplete reproductive isolation, and biotic interactions permit or limit a species ability to expand its range. It then assesses what impact, if any, range evolution has on macroevolutionary dynamics across phylogenies. These ideas are being tested using genetic resources and materials already collected from lizard communities in Australian arid and Brazilian neotropical biomes, as they are two of the most diverse vertebrate communities on Earth. The host laboratory has an extensive collection of the needed materials and live animals are not being used. The broad phylogenetic and geographic sampling ensures the findings can be generalized. Training goals include gaining expertise in phylogenetic comparative methods and macroevolutionary analyses using computational approaches. Broader impact plans include developing programming courses for young girls in the public schools, working with the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History to engage the community in biodiversity science, and training undergraduates in the process of scientific research.