PAC-ISLEs: Present-day and Ancient Connections between Island Societies and Local Ecosystems

大洋洲岛屿是各种鱼类群落和无数充满活力的人类文化的家园，所有这些文化的历史都与海洋和岛屿本身的特点(如资源可获得性和栖息地空间)以及遥远岛屿之间的连通程度(如洋流、迁徙等)密不可分。文化和海洋生态之间的这些统一概念使太平洋岛屿生活的整体研究成为跨学科研究体验的理想选择。PAC-Isles项目是一个为期一年的研究体验，其间会有为期六周的大洋洲之旅，学生们将在那里开展海洋生物学和人类学方面的独立研究项目，并将这两个学科的共同主题联系起来。每年，新的队伍将访问大洋洲的不同岛屿(美属萨摩亚、汤加、波恩佩)，在那里他们将沉浸在当地社区，并与拥有社区保护、海洋生态和公共教育专业知识的关键外国导师合作。回到美国后，学生们将利用伯克自然历史和文化博物馆丰富的自然历史和民族学藏品来支持他们的研究项目，并帮助他们与公众分享他们的发现，包括西雅图大都市区和其他地区高度参与的太平洋岛民社区。大洋洲岛屿支持鱼类群落和人类文化，其历史与其自然和地理特征(例如资源可获得性和栖息地空间)以及遥远岛屿之间的连接程度(例如扩散潜力、基因流动、人类迁徙和贸易历史)密不可分。PAC-Isles项目的学生将每三年前往一个独特的岛屿，探索文化和海洋生态之间的这些联系，并通过衡量岛屿之间文化对象或传统活动的相似性，以及(对于鱼类)种群遗传学、分类组成和系统地理来表征历史性变化。从事鱼类群落工作的学生将主要关注隐底栖珊瑚鱼的进化和群落结构，这是一个研究较少的群体，可以作为整个太平洋岛屿进化和当代变化的理想指标。太平洋岛屿人类学专业的学生将专注于与海洋直接相关的文化方面，无论是通过海洋的物质来源，还是通过将海洋知识传递给后代的作用。就像太平洋岛屿的生物群落一样，文化项目可以在不同的岛屿上进行比较，以展示变化、当地适应和技术进步的历史。当伯克自然历史和文化博物馆对这些数据进行分析，并将其与大洋洲现有的大量生物和人类学收藏品联系起来时，来自太平洋岛屿的研究结果有可能极大地促进我们对太平洋岛屿及其周围生物和文化多样性的了解，同时促进科学家和太平洋岛民社区之间公平地交流知识。学生活动远远超出了这个项目的持续时间，因为PAC-Isles将帮助建立一个永久的渠道，让学生与否则学生更难访问的海外网站联系起来。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The islands of Oceania are home to diverse fish communities and a vibrant myriad of human cultures, all of which have histories are inseparably tied to characteristics of the ocean and the islands themselves (e.g. resource availability and habitat space), and extent of connectivity among distant islands (e.g. currents, migration, etc.). These unifying concepts between culture and marine ecology make the holistic study of Pacific Island life ideal for a cross-disciplinary research experience. The PAC-ISLEs program is a year-long research experience punctuated by a six-week trip to Oceania, where students will conduct independent research projects in marine biology and anthropology, and connect the shared themes uniting the two disciplines. Each year new cohorts will visit a different island in Oceania (American Samoa, Tonga, Pohnpei), where they will immerse themselves in local communities and collaborate with key foreign mentors that possess expertise in community-based conservation, marine ecology, and public education. Upon returning to the US, students will take advantage of the extensive natural history and ethnology collections at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture to support their research projects, and help them share their findings with the public, including a highly-engaged community of Pacific Islanders in the Seattle metropolitan area and beyond. The islands of Oceania support fish communities and human cultures whose histories are inseparably tied to their physical and geographic characteristics (e.g. resource availability and habitat space), and the extent of connectivity among distant islands (e.g. dispersal potential, gene flow, history of human migrations and trade). Students in the PAC-ISLEs program will travel to a unique island each of three years to explore these ties between culture and marine ecology, and characterize historic changes by measuring similarities in cultural objects or traditional activities among islands, and (for fishes) population genetics, taxonomic composition, and phylogeography. Students working with fish communities will focus mainly on the evolution and community structure of cryptobenthic reef fishes, a poorly studied group that can serve as an ideal indicator for evolutionary and contemporary change across Pacific Islands. Students working on Pacific Island anthropology will focus on aspects of culture that are directly linked to the ocean either through their material origins, or role in passing on knowledge about the ocean to future generations. Much like the biological communities of Pacific Islands, cultural items may be compared across different islands to show the history of change, local adaptation, and technological progression. When these data are analyzed and contextualized with existing and extensive biological and anthropological collections from Oceania at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, findings from PAC-ISLEs have the potential to greatly advance our understanding of biological and cultural diversity on and around Pacific Islands, while promoting an equitable exchange of knowledge between scientists and Pacific Islander communities. Student activities extend far beyond the duration of this project, as PAC-ISLEs will help establish a permanent conduit for students to connect with overseas sites that would otherwise be less accessible for students.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.