FSML: Improving collaborative research infrastructure at Gombe National Park, Tanzania

1965年，简·古道尔博士在坦桑尼亚建立了贡贝溪研究中心（GSRC），以支持和维持她在1960年开始的对黑猩猩的开创性研究。贡贝黑猩猩研究已经进行了56年，是对自由生活物种进行的最长、最详细的连续研究之一。GSRC是珍·古道尔研究所的一个核心项目，该研究所是世界上最著名的研究和保护组织之一。GSRC的研究揭示了黑猩猩复杂的社会行为和认知能力，包括工具的制造和使用，群体狩猎，群体间竞争中的合作以及持久的家庭纽带和社会关系，所有这些都与人类进化的理解有关。此外，GSRC的研究还为贡贝附近和整个非洲的以社区为中心的保护项目提供信息。鉴于行为数据无与伦比的深度，不同领域的科学家越来越有兴趣在贡贝进行广泛的跨学科研究，以增加对饮食、生理、健康和疾病的了解。然而，GSRC的基础设施多年来一直是零敲碎打的，无法支持现代研究或大型跨学科团队。该项目将通过提供可靠的电力和翻新现有结构来扩展和更新设施，为来访的科学家提供最先进的实验室设施。设施的改进将提高当前和未来访问研究人员在其所有研究项目中的效率，并将使坦桑尼亚科学家和兽医能够通过与本地物种的实际经验得到培训。更好的电力供应和改进的互联网连接将促进贡贝的科学数据和事件与海外合作者和学生以及当地教室的更直接的交流。一个新的图书馆和博物馆空间，拥有能够支持视频显示的电源，将极大地改善来访的学生、学校团体和游客的教育体验。在这个标志性的地点提供现代化的实验室设施，将通过将灵长类动物和栖息地的异常深入的知识与新技术相结合，以检测和测量疾病病原体和疾病进展，内分泌水平，骨骼特征以及饮食项目的营养和同位素特征，从而实现变革性研究。改善的电力和通信将支持所有正在进行的研究项目，并允许它们之间更大的协同作用。扩建和翻新将具备以下特点：1)通过新的太阳能和备用发电机系统提供可靠的电力；2)配备了用于样本储存和基因、内分泌和营养分析基本设备的冷冻实验室空间；3)用于植物标本和已知发育和生活史的黑猩猩和狒狒个体独特的广泛骨骼收藏的干燥存储和工作空间；4)尸检实验室；还有一个小博物馆。有关在贡贝进行的核心研究项目的信息可在www.gombechimpanzees.org上找到。

The Gombe Stream Research Centre (GSRC) was established in Tanzania by Dr. Jane Goodall in 1965 to support and maintain her pioneering study of chimpanzees, initiated in 1960. Now in its 56th year, the Gombe chimpanzee study is one of the longest and most detailed continuous studies of any free-living species. GSRC is a core project of the Jane Goodall Institute, one of the most well-known research and conservation organizations in the world. Research at GSRC has revealed the complex social behavior and cognitive abilities of chimpanzees including tool-making and use, group-hunting, cooperation in inter-group competition and enduring family bonds and social relationships, all of which have relevance to the understanding of human evolution. In addition, GSRC research informs community-centered conservation programs near Gombe and across Africa. Given the unparalleled depth of behavioral data, there has been growing interest from scientists in diverse fields in conducting broad, inter-disciplinary research at Gombe, to increase understanding of diet, physiology, health and disease. However, the GSRC infrastructure has been built piecemeal over the years and cannot support modern research or large trans-disciplinary teams. This project will extend and update the facilities by providing reliable power and renovating existing structures to provide state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for visiting scientists. Improvement of the facilities will improve current and future visiting researchers' efficiency in all their research projects, and will enable the training of Tanzanian scientists and veterinarians through hands-on experience with indigenous species. A better power supply and improved internet connectivity will facilitate more immediate communication of scientific data and events at Gombe to collaborators and students overseas, as well as in local classrooms. A new library and museum space with power sources capable of supporting video displays will greatly improve the educational experiences of visiting students, school groups, and tourists.The provision of modern lab facilities at this iconic site will enable transformative research through coupling the exceptionally deep knowledge of the primates and the habitat with new techniques to detect and measure disease agents and disease progression in situ, endocrine levels, characteristics of bone, and nutritional and isotopic characteristics of dietary items. Improved power and communication will support all ongoing research projects and allow for greater synergy between them. The expansion and renovation will feature 1) reliable electrical power through new solar and backup generator systems, 2) wet laboratory space equipped with freezers for sample storage and basic equipment for genetic, endocrine, and nutritional analysis, 3) dry storage and work space for an herbarium and for the uniquely extensive skeletal collections of individual chimpanzees and baboons of known developmental and life histories, 4) a necropsy lab, 5) a space for meetings, and 6) a small museum. Information on the core research projects conducted at Gombe can be found at www.gombechimpanzees.org.