IRES Track II: International Training to Understand the Relationships of Non-Bilaterian Animals

该项目将在3年内培训24名美国研究生，研究无脊椎动物的生物多样性。该项目将大大有助于提高专业知识和培养研究海绵、水母、梳状水母、珊瑚和海葵的下一代研究人员。这些动物是了解动物起源的关键，它们在海洋生态系统中也发挥着至关重要的作用。在巴拿马举办的一系列3个研讨会将允许国际专家培训这些美国研究生和一些外国学生，学习收集、识别和了解这些脆弱生物的方法。在能够进入高度多样化的海洋生物栖息地的外地站进行这项培训，将确保受训人员接触到尽可能多样化的动物和栖息地。受训者将精通记录生物多样性所需的技能，一些受训者将参与描述新物种。这种技能对于为保护决策和生物安全的各个方面提供数据至关重要。该项目将为6名美国学员提供后续的、深入的国际研究培训。该项目将解决目前缺乏熟练应用分类学和系统方法研究海绵、水母、珊瑚和海葵的研究人员的问题。该项目的首要目标是培训下一代研究海绵、水母、梳状水母和珊瑚的研究人员，使它们接触热带生物多样性，并侧重于能够帮助解决这些动物群体内部和之间关系的方法和途径。从概念上讲，该项目侧重于理解生物多样性方面的两个主要挑战：(1)记录全球生物多样性和(2)确定动物群体内部和之间的关系。分类学是一门发现、描述和命名生物的科学，对所有生物研究以及对理解和保护生物多样性都至关重要。正在进行的调查、清查和保护海洋生物多样性的努力受到分类学专业知识短缺的威胁。该项目将培训这些群体中的分类学专家，他们能够记录生物多样性，应用新的方法来帮助解决这些群体之间的关系，并最终了解动物生命的起源。这一努力还将促进海洋动物的保护，与陆地生物相比，海洋动物的记录很少。该项目将在2019年、2020年和2021年支持三个为期21天的研讨会，在巴拿马的一个热带野战站混合美国和国际专家和受训者。这些讲习班将(1)对参与者进行识别方法方面的培训；(2)就与理解种群间系统发育关系相关的信息和数据进行深入讲座和讨论；(3)通过提供热带多样性实践经验和与不同国际同行进行有意义的互动，拓宽学员对每个种群的视角；(4)建立持久的国际合作，以促进美国的生物多样性研究，并改善与国际实地考察地点的联系。每个研讨会将遵循一个共同的框架，并将分享三个小组共同的部分课程。优秀的受训者将在国际实验室接受额外的深入培训。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。

This project will train 24 US graduate students over 3 years in the study of the biodiversity of invertebrate animals. This project will contribute significantly to enhancing expertise and developing the next generation of researchers studying sponges, jellyfish, comb jellies, corals, and sea anemones. These animals are key to understanding the origin of animals and they also play vital roles in marine ecosystems. A series of 3 workshops held in Panama will allow international experts to train these US graduate students and some foreign students in the methods used to collect, identify, and understand these fragile organisms. Staging this training at a field station with access to highly diverse marine habitats will ensure that trainees gain exposure to the greatest diversity of animals and habitats possible. Trainees will become proficient in the skills necessary to document biodiversity, and some trainees will be involved in describing new species. Such skills are vital for providing data for conservation decisions and for various aspects of biosecurity. The project will provide follow-up, in-depth international research training for 6 US trainees. This project will address the current shortage of researchers skilled in applying taxonomic and systematic methods to sponges, jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones. The overarching goal of this project is to train the next generation of researchers working on sponges, jellyfish, comb jellies and corals by exposing them to tropical biodiversity and by focusing on the methods and approaches that can help resolve the relationships within and among these groups of animals. Conceptually, this project focuses on two major challenges in understanding biodiversity: (1) documenting global biodiversity and (2) determining the relationships within and among animal groups. Taxonomy, the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, is vital to all biological research and to understanding and conserving biodiversity. The on-going effort to survey, inventory, and preserve the ocean's biological diversity is threatened by a shortage of taxonomic expertise. This project will train taxonomic experts in these groups who can document biodiversity, apply novel methods to help resolve the relationships between these groups, and ultimately understand the origins of animal life. This effort will also promote conservation of marine animals, which are poorly documented compared to terrestrial organisms. This project will support three 21-day workshops in 2019, 2020 and 2021, mixing US and international experts and trainees at a tropical field station in Panama. These workshops will (1) train participants in methods for identification; (2) include in-depth lectures and discussion on information and data relevant to understanding phylogenetic relationships among the groups; (3) broaden trainee perspectives on each group by providing hands-on experience with tropical diversity and meaningful interactions with diverse international colleagues; (4) build lasting international collaborations to promote US biodiversity research and improve accessibility to international field locations. Each workshop will follow a common framework and will share parts of the curriculum common to the 3 groups. Outstanding trainees will experience a follow-on experience with additional in-depth training in an international laboratory.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.