MRI: Launching an undergraduate-driven Genomics Center through acquisition of an Illumina MiSeq

向西方学院颁发了一个奖项，以支持购买下一代DNA测序系统。位于西方学院的摩尔动物和生物科学实验室大楼将配备一个新的基因组学中心和古代DNA实验室，该实验室将成为教师和学生在生物学方面研究的合作中心。新的测序仪将使教职员工和本科生能够进行基于收藏和海洋基因组研究的研究，涉及鸟类、海洋无脊椎动物、鱼类、两栖动物和一系列其他物种的标本。Sequencer系统的教师用户将带领长达一学期的课程生成数据，并探索他们所在学科的问题。此外，测序仪系统将加强美国国家科学基金会S-STEM项目的成功和建立，该项目名为COSMOS(为西方学生创造科学和数学机会)，目标是来自STEM代表性不足背景的新生。新的测序仪系统将用于推动环境科学的研究，特别是关注环境随时间的变化和城市生物多样性。具体地说，结果将通过使用摩尔动物实验室的墨西哥鸟类收藏来阐明北美鸟类的变化，包括在墨西哥各地300个地点收集的49,000个标本，当时栖息地基本完好无损(1933-1955)。该测序仪还将有助于通过科斯曼贝壳收藏(在夏威夷和太平洋具有优势的110,000个标本)推进对软体动物物种多样性和进化的研究，以及与万图纳研究小组的鱼类收藏有关的进化和生态学问题(15,000个标本是南加利福尼亚州海湾最好的收藏之一)。由测序仪实现的其他教职员工研究包括关于洛杉矶火蜥蜴、鹦鹉和近岸岩礁鱼的城市生物多样性基因组学，以及关于太平洋深海共生和锥螺毒液进化的研究。这些研究的结果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，在科学会议上发表，并用于公共宣传活动。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。

An Award is made to Occidental College to support the acquisition of a next-generation DNA sequencing system. The Moore Laboratory of Zoology and BioScience building at Occidental College will feature a new Genomics Center and Ancient DNA Lab, which will act as a collaborative hub for faculty and student research in Biology. The new sequencer will enable faculty and undergraduate research in collections-based and marine genomic research that involves specimen of birds, marine invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a range of other species. Faculty users of the sequencer system will lead semester-long courses to generate data and explore questions in their discipline. Additionally, the sequencer system will enhance a successful and established NSF S-STEM program called COSMOS (Creating Opportunities in Science and Mathematics for Occidental Students), which targets freshman from backgrounds under-represented in STEM.The new sequencer system will be used to advance research in the environmental sciences with particular focus on environmental change through time and urban biodiversity. Specifically, results will elucidate change in North American birds by using the Mexican bird collection at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology, including 49,000 specimens collected at 300 sites across Mexico when habitats were largely intact (1933-1955). The sequencer will also help to advance research on species diversity and evolution of mollusks with the Cosman Shell Collection (110,000 specimens with strengths in Hawaii and the Pacific), as well as evolutionary and ecological questions involving the fish collection of the Vantuna Research Group (15,000 specimens and one of the best collections of the Southern California Bight). Other faculty research enabled by the sequencer includes urban biodiversity genomics on Los Angeles salamanders, parrots, and near-shore rocky-reef fishes, as well as research on Pacific deep-sea symbioses and the evolution of cone snail venom. The results of these studies will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific meetings, and used in public outreach activities.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.