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。 这项研究计划的标题为珍妮弗沃尔什是“结合博物馆和当代数据，以了解两个潮汐沼泽鸟类之间的物种形成机制。“该奖学金的主办机构是康奈尔大学，赞助科学家是Irby J. Lovette博士。 自然杂交区提供了研究生物多样性的进化和未来的机会，同时提供了深入了解两个相互作用的物种之间生殖隔离的机制。特别是，对时间上重复的数据进行比较，可以对混合区如何在时间和空间上转移或扩展提供有价值的见解。研究金研究使用时间上重复的方法来评估两个潮汐沼泽地方病，盐沼和纳尔逊的麻雀之间的混合区的模式。在不到一个世纪的时间里，这一混合区已扩大了约160公里;然而，纯物种边界似乎得到了维持。时间上的比较提供了新的见解，以维持遗传和形态纯种群面对杂交区的快速扩张，是最重要的，在美国东北部的地方和区域政府和非政府团体关心的保护，作为盐沼泽和纳尔逊的麻雀都是高度优先物种在这一地区;特别是盐沼麻雀，被认为是全球濒临灭绝的物种。该方法结合了使用有价值的存档生物收藏和尖端的基因组分析现存的人口记录之间的动态纳尔逊和盐沼麻雀在过去的125年。标本来自几个收藏，包括康奈尔大学，特拉华州自然历史博物馆，哈佛比较动物学博物馆，康涅狄格大学，缅因州大学和加拿大自然博物馆。鉴于脆弱性的纳尔逊和盐沼麻雀栖息地的丧失和退化，更好地了解时间动态的承诺，以帮助预测未来的成果，在这一领域以及一般的理解hybrid zones.Training goals inchude获得专业知识，在人口基因组学和新开发的方法，从存档的生物标本部分基因组测序。教育和公共宣传包括分享Saltmarsh和纳尔逊的麻雀与Saltmarsh栖息地和鸟类研究计划的互动结果，这是一个区域性的，合作的潮汐沼泽鸟类监测和保护计划，涉及该物种的管理计划，以及康奈尔鸟类学实验室非常受欢迎的互动网站，例如，所有关于鸟类和所有关于鸟类生物学

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 Jennifer Walsh is "Combining museum and contemporary data to understand mechanisms of speciation between two tidal marsh birds." The host institution for this fellowship is Cornell University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Irby J. Lovette. Natural hybrid zones offer the opportunity to investigate evolution in action and the future of biodiversity, while providing insight into the mechanisms driving reproductive isolation between two interacting species. Comparison of temporally replicated data, in particular, provides valuable insight into how a hybrid zone is shifting or expanding in time and space. The fellowship research uses a temporally replicated approach to evaluate patterns in a hybrid zone between two tidal marsh endemics, the Saltmarsh and Nelson's sparrow. This hybrid zone has expanded approximately 160 km in less than a century; however, pure species boundaries appear to be maintained. Temporal comparisons provide new insight into the maintenance of genetically and morphologically pure populations in the face of rapid hybrid zone expansion and is of utmost importance in the northeastern U.S. to local and regional governmental and non-governmental groups concerned with conservation, as Saltmarsh and Nelson's sparrows are both high priority species in this area; the Saltmarsh Sparrow, in particular, is considered globally vulnerable to extinction. The approach combines the use of valuable archived biological collections and cutting edge genomic analyses of extant populations to document the dynamics between Nelson's and Saltmarsh sparrows over the past 125 years. Specimens come from several collections, including Cornell University, Delaware Museum of Natural History, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, the University of Connecticut, the University of Maine, and the Canadian Museum of Nature. Given the vulnerability of Nelson's and Saltmarsh sparrows to habitat loss and degradation, a better understanding of temporal dynamics promises to aid the projection of future outcomes in this area as well as general understanding of hybrid zones.Training goals inchude gaining expertise in population genomics and in newly developed approaches to sequencing partial genomes from archived biological specimens. Educational and public outreach include sharing results of Saltmarsh and Nelson's sparrow interactions with the Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program, a regional, collaborative tidal-marsh bird monitoring and conservation initiative concerned with management plans for the species, and the very popular interactive websites of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, e.g., All About Birds and All About Bird Biology.