CAREER: Integrating contemporary evolution of animal communication in the field with science communication in our communities

许多生物通过声音、气味、颜色或行为相互交流。繁殖往往需要雄性和雌性之间的交流，而不同物种之间的交配交流是不同的，这就阻止了不同物种之间的交配。当雄性交配特征发生巨大变化时，带有或不带有新信号的种类可能会在繁殖上被隔离，特别是当信号接收者（通常是雌性）的偏好随着雄性信号的变化而变化时。研究人员在长期研究的太平洋蟋蟀（Teleogryllus oceanicus）种群中发现了一种新的鸣声类型——“咕噜声”。雄蟋蟀用特殊的翅膀结构发出歌声来吸引雌蟋蟀，并敦促它们交配。研究人员利用这个机会，通过测量和跟踪新的咕噜声的组成部分，来了解交配信号进化的最早阶段。同一物种的雌性蟋蟀和一种拟寄生蝇都能察觉到这种新歌。雌性拟寄生蝇通过鸣叫来定位寄主蟋蟀，然后把幼虫放在它们身上，这些幼虫会钻进蟋蟀的身体，然后吃掉蟋蟀的身体。因此，研究人员还将测量雌性蟋蟀和苍蝇的偏好，并调查新歌的进化史和基因组基础。研究人员通过一个项目（STEMComm）将动物交流的当代进化与科学交流联系起来，该项目旨在增加科学的多样性和包容性，并提高参与者的跨文化素养。STEMComm将改善本科生和研究生在科学传播方面的培训，同时让服务不足的城市和夏威夷原住民学生参与前沿研究。进化新颖性的起源仍然难以捉摸，因为捕捉新特征进化的内在困难。研究人员在夏威夷的太平洋蟋蟀（Teleogryllus oceanicus）种群中发现了一种新歌（“咕噜声”），这种新歌在多个种群中的频率正在增加。这种新颖的歌声与典型的歌声在特征上有所不同，这些特征用于识别同类和偏好的配偶，并且可以被雌性和窃听的天敌探测到。这一发现为记录一种新的男性特征的起源及其对信号偏好关系和性隔离的实时影响提供了机会。祖先的信号和偏好被很好地表征，并且该系统以通信的快速进化而闻名，特别是在对声学定向的寄生性苍蝇的反应中。研究人员将追踪20代包含呼噜声雄性的复制种群，揭示新特征如何与预期和非预期接受者的偏好和感知能力共同进化（或不共同进化），并将探索呼噜声蟋蟀的进化史和基因组结构。将实地研究与现代基因组技术相结合，将提供对进化新颖性的原因和方式的综合理解。该项目通过一项新的科学传播计划，将研究和教育无缝地结合起来，该计划模仿了K-12教育中的研究生STEM研究员，使研究适应非专业受众，并增强科学的多样性和包容性。参与者将与K-12教师合作，共同开发可出版的课程和课堂上的试点活动，为少数族裔女孩举办的夏令营，以及夏威夷的社区外展计划。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Many organisms communicate with one another using sounds, smells, colors, or behaviors. Communication between males and females is often required for reproduction, and mating communication differs between species, preventing mating between different species. When male mating characteristics change dramatically, types with and without a new signal can become reproductively isolated, particularly when the preferences of signal receivers (often females) change in step with the male signals. The researcher discovered a novel song type, 'purring', in long-studied populations of Pacific field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Male crickets produce songs using specialized wing structures to attract females and urge them to mate. The researcher capitalizes on this opportunity to understand the earliest stages of mating signal evolution by measuring and tracking the components of the new purring song. The new song is detectable to female crickets of the same species and to a parasitoid fly. Female parasitoid flies use song to locate host crickets and then deposit larvae on them that will burrow into and later eat their way out of the crickets' body. The researcher will thus also measure preferences of female crickets and flies and investigate both the evolutionary history and genomic basis of the new song. The researcher links the contemporary evolution of animal communication with science communication through a program (STEMComm) founded on increasing diversity and inclusion in science and on increasing the cross-cultural literacy of participants. STEMComm will improve undergraduate and graduate students' training in science communication while engaging underserved urban and native Hawaiian students with leading-edge research. The origins of evolutionary novelty remain elusive because of the inherent difficulty of catching novel trait evolution in action. The researcher discovered a new song ('purring') in Hawaiian populations of the Pacific field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, that is increasing in frequency in multiple populations. The novel song differs from the typical one in characteristics used to identify conspecifics and preferred mates, and is detectable to females and an eavesdropping natural enemy. This discovery affords an opportunity to document the origin of a novel male trait and its consequences for signal-preference relationships and sexual isolation in real time. Ancestral signals and preferences are well-characterized, and the system is known for rapid evolution of communication, particularly in response to an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly. The researcher will track replicate populations that contain purring males for 20 generations, revealing how novel traits come to coevolve (or not) with the preferences and perceptual capabilities of intended and unintended receivers, and will probe the evolutionary history and genomic architecture of purring crickets. Combining field studies with modern genomic techniques will provide an integrative understanding of the why and how of evolutionary novelty. The project seamlessly integrates research and education through a new science communication program modeled after Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education, adapting the research for a non-specialist audience and enhancing diversity and inclusion in science. Participants will partner with K-12 teachers to co-develop publishable curricula and pilot activities in classrooms, a summer camp for minoritized girls, and a community outreach program in Hawaii.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.