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。 迈克尔·哈维（Michael Harvey）的研究计划的标题是“评估物种内羽毛差异对鸟类羽毛多样性进化的重要性”。这项研究的主办机构是密歇根大学，赞助科学家是丹尼尔拉博斯基博士。这项研究的重点是将物种内个体之间的差异与物种之间的差异联系起来。一个物种内的个体在遗传组成（基因型）和外观（表型）上往往差异很大。其中一些差异与地理有关，因此来自一个地区的个体很容易与来自另一个地区的个体区分开来。然而，目前还不清楚这种地理变异在更长的进化时间尺度上的意义。具有较大变异的物种是否会比变异有限的物种产生更多的物种或持续更长的时间？研究人员正在评估鸟类物种内表型分化的模式和速度是否可以预测物种间表型多样化的模式或速度。使用数字摄影和计算机视觉测量，正在从密歇根大学动物学博物馆和其他博物馆的博物馆标本中收集鸟类表型变异的数据。然后，估计的进化历史，使用遗传数据也收集的集合，以模拟表型进化的历史内和跨物种。这些研究揭示了物种内表型分化和物种间表型多样化之间存在的相关性，并代表了大规模物种内和物种间表型分化的第一个比较分析。 然后可以确定物种内哪些类型的变异对其后代的进化轨迹产生持久影响。培训目标包括获得使用数字图像和计算机视觉量化表型的专业知识。对本科生的教育推广涉及他们使用博物馆藏品，进行高通量数字摄影，训练计算机视觉算法和学习遗传技术。

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 Michael Harvey is "Assessing the importance of plumage divergence within species for the evolution of plumage diversity across birds." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of Michigan, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Daniel RaboskyThe research focuses on connecting variation among individuals within species to differences across species. Individuals within a species often differ greatly in genetic make-up (genotype) as well as appearance (phenotype). Some of these differences are associated with geography such that individuals from one region are readily distinguishable from those from another region. It is unclear, however, what the implications of this geographic variation are over longer evolutionary timescales. Do species with greater variation tend to produce more species or last longer than species with limited variation? The fellowship research is assessing whether the pattern and rate of phenotypic divergence within bird species predicts patterns or rates of phenotypic diversification across species. Using digital photography and measurements from computer vision, data on phenotypic variation in birds are being gathered from museum specimens at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan and other museums as needed. Estimates are then made of evolutionary history using genetic data also gathered from collections to model the history of phenotype evolution both within and across species. These studies reveal what correlations exist between phenotypic divergence within species and phenotypic diversification among species and represent one of the first comparative analysis of phenotypic divergence within and across species at a large scale. Then it can be determined what types of variation within a species have lasting impacts on the evolutionary trajectory of its descendants.Training goals include gaining expertise in using digital imagery and computer vision to quantify phenotypes. Educational outreach to undergraduate students involves them in using museum collections, conducting high-throughput digital photography, training computer vision algorithms, and learning genetic techniques.