NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

这项行动资助了2015财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，使用生物收集的研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，以采取变革性方法应对生物学的重大挑战，以高度创新的方式利用生物学收藏。 这个奖学金的研究计划的题目是“阐明佛罗里达灌丛鸦当代进化的基因组和表型基础”。“该奖学金的主办机构是加州大学戴维斯分校，赞助科学家是格雷厄姆·库珀博士。最近的研究表明，在许多不同的生物体中，进化都是在生态时间尺度上进行的（即比以前认为的要短）。研究当代进化是直接测试进化生物学中许多基本问题的唯一途径，例如在选择存在的情况下高水平遗传变异的持续性。人们提出了几种试图解释这一长期存在的悖论的理论;然而，这些预测的实证验证在自然群体中很少见，因为它们需要特定类型的生物收集：存档的DNA样本以及数千个人的相关表型和适应度测量。多代。尽管人们对实时测量进化的兴趣越来越大，而且合适的数据集的可用性也越来越高，但仍然缺乏从这些类型的数据中推断自然选择的严格方法。需要开发新的方法，利用纵向群体样本和系谱信息来测试不同生活史阶段复杂性状的选择。这个研究当代进化的强大框架进一步增加了可以从生物学收藏中获得的见解。奖学金研究开发和应用新的分析方法来研究短期选择复杂的性状在佛罗里达灌丛周杰伦（Aphelocoma coerulescens），使用一个独特的收集存档的血液和DNA样本在脊椎动物的康奈尔博物馆，以及相关的人口和生态数据存储在阿赫博尔德生物站。应用这些方法的佛罗里达灌丛鸦提高了我们的理解的重要性，在保持自然种群的遗传变异的选择。 培训目标包括获得开发和应用新的群体遗传学和统计遗传学方法所需的计算和定量技能。更广泛的影响包括开发开源软件，跨学科研究的本科生培训，以及向公众以及政府和保护机构传播研究成果。佛罗里达灌丛鸦是北美最稀有的鸟类之一，这项工作的结果有望为该物种的保护工作提供信息。研究结果也通过教育推广活动和康奈尔鸟类学实验室传播。的沟通渠道，以增加公众对生态时间内种群内进化过程的理解。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Nancy Chen is "Elucidating the genomic and phenotypic basis of contemporary evolution in Florida Scrub-Jays." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of California, Davis, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Graham Coop. Recent studies have demonstrated evolution on ecological timescales (that is, shorter than previously thought) in a number of different organisms. Studying contemporary evolution is the only way to directly test many fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, such as the persistence of high levels of genetic variation in the presence of selection. Several theories seeking to explain this long-standing paradox have been proposed; however, empirical validations of these predictions are rare in natural populations because they require a particular type of biological collection: archived DNA samples with associated phenotypic and fitness measures for several thousand individuals over multiple generations. Despite increasing interest in measuring evolution in real-time and increasing availability of suitable datasets, rigorous methods for inferring natural selection from these types of data are lacking. Needed is the development of new methods that leverage longitudinal population samples and pedigree information to test for selection on complex traits at different life-history stages. This powerful framework for studying contemporary evolution further increases the insights that can be gained from biological collections. The fellowship research develops and applies novel analytical methods to study short-term selection on complex traits in the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), using a unique collection of archived blood and DNA samples at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates as well as associated demographic and ecological data stored at Archbold Biological Station. Application of these methods to the Florida Scrub-Jays improves our understanding of the importance of selection in maintaining genetic variation in natural populations. Training goals include gaining the computational and quantitative skills necessary to develop and apply novel population genetics and statistical genetics methods. Broader impacts involve development of open-source software, undergraduate training in interdisciplinary research, and communication of research findings to the general public as well as government and conservation agencies. The Florida Scrub-Jay is one of the rarest birds in North America, and results from this work promise to inform conservation efforts for this species. Results are also being disseminated via educational outreach activities and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology?s communication outlets to increase public understanding of evolutionary processes operating within populations in ecological time.