Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genomics in a colonial setting

该项目调查了欧洲人在美洲的殖民化如何塑造了定居者人口的遗传多样性和人口和社会习俗的变化。虽然许多研究探讨了欧洲殖民主义对土著居民的影响，但对殖民化对定居者本身的影响知之甚少。这项研究结合了考古学，民族历史学和遗传学分析，记录了殖民定居者及其现代后代人口结构和遗传人口学的变化。 该项目将促进我们对美洲殖民地如何出现生物和社会身份的理解，并将扩大目前非常有限的美洲殖民时代基因组数据。 该项目为本科生和研究生提供考古学和人类学遗传学方法和研究经验方面的培训，并支持社区和公共科学推广。本研究采用新一代测序技术，目标捕获，单核苷酸多态性（SNP）阵列，以评估全基因组的多样性和遗传祖先的个人挖掘的圣乔治的Caye墓地和当代伯利兹人追溯至少一个家谱血统追溯到18世纪世纪英属洪都拉斯。所产生的遗传数据将用于回答有关人口的遗传祖先、人口连续性和变化程度以及身份的遗传推断是否反映了殖民和当代背景下对身份的考古和自我报告的理解等问题。 该项目融合了不同的研究方法，以阐明身份形成和民族形成的过程中殖民context.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project investigates how European colonization in the Americas shaped the genetic diversity and shifting demographic and social practices within settler populations. Although numerous studies have explored the effects of European colonialism on indigenous populations, less is known about the effects of colonization on the settlers themselves. This study combines archaeological, ethnohistorical, and genetic analyses to document changes in population structure and genetic demography in a population of colonial settlers and their modern-day descendants. The project will advance our understanding of how biological and social identities emerged in the colonial Americas, and also will expand the currently very limited colonial-era genomic data from the Americas. This project provides training in archaeological and anthropological genetic methods and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, and supports community and public science outreach. This study uses next-generation sequencing techniques, target capture, and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays to assess genome-wide diversity and genetic ancestry in individuals excavated from the St. George's Caye cemetery and from contemporary Belizeans who trace at least one genealogical lineage back to 18th century British Honduras. The genetic data generated will be used to answer questions about the genetic ancestry of the populations, the degree of population continuity and change, and whether or not genetic inferences of identity reflect archaeological and self-reported understandings of identity in colonial and contemporary contexts. The project merges diverse research methodologies to shed light on the processes of identity formation and ethnogenesis in colonial contexts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.