IRES Track I: Tephritid fruit fly Multidisciplinary Australian Research Collaboration for Biosecurity

Tephritid果蝇多学科澳大利亚生物安全研究合作(T-MARC-BIO)是东门诺特大学(EMU)的Track I IRES项目，将吸引来自弗吉尼亚州的18名本科生在澳大利亚获得多学科研究经验，这些经验将促进基础科学，并应对在确保生物安全和强大的全球食品供应链方面的国际重大挑战。学生将从EMU和邻近机构招聘，对果蝇(Tephritidae)进行研究，这种昆虫是世界上最具破坏性的园艺害虫之一，对澳大利亚、美国以及整个热带和亚热带地区构成了害虫管理问题、贸易壁垒和入侵威胁。这项研究的结果将对病虫害综合治理产生影响，这是美国和世界范围内可持续农业生态系统的关键组成部分。有充分的理由，公众越来越关注合成杀虫剂对健康和环境的影响，其使用正受到严格限制。T-MARC-BIO计划将为害虫控制和入侵物种监测增加有效的长期战略工具包，同时将杀虫剂对人类和环境健康的影响降至最低。美国学生将通过在澳大利亚的多学科环境中开展项目，以及在外国生活和工作中改变生活的学习、人际交往技能、同理心和全球意识，获得宝贵的研究经验。通过T-MARC-BIO，学生将(1)参加为期一学期的旅行前研究准备和跨文化项目，(2)在澳大利亚进行为期七周的严谨的个人研究项目，(3)在参与具有全球兴趣和影响的研究领域时，沉浸在澳大利亚文化中，(4)通过科学期刊和演示文稿，以及在当地社区中交流他们的研究。美国和澳大利亚都进行了重大的研究投资，以加强对现有害虫苍蝇种群的控制，并改善对进入各自国家的入侵苍蝇的阻止。T-MARC-BIO学生辅助研究的结果将促进三个领域的知识进步：实蝇的生理和行为，果蝇诱饵的有机分析和合成，以及田间生态和管理技术。总而言之，这些成果将解决有关果蝇如何代谢次生植物化合物、它们闻到什么、吸引它们的东西、它们如何在环境中移动以及如何开发更有效的控制技术(如诱捕剂果蝇诱饵)方面的空白。关于T-MARC-BIO项目的评估结果将适用于小型(两年制和四年制)大学、其管理人员和STEM教职员工。T-MARC-BIO学生将分享丰富的、多学科的学术研究培训的好处，并参与促进STEM领域以及基础和应用科学领域的可发表研究。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。

Tephritid fruit fly Multidisciplinary Australian Research Collaboration for Biosecurity (T-MARC-BIO), a Track I IRES project at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), will engage 18 undergraduate students from the state of Virginia to gain multidisciplinary research experience in Australia that will advance basic science and address internationally significant challenges in ensuring biosecurity and a robust global food supply chain. Students will be recruited from EMU and neighboring institutions to conduct research on fruit flies (Tephritidae), which are among the most damaging horticultural insect pests worldwide, constituting pest management issues, trade barriers, and invasion threats for Australia, the U.S., and throughout the tropics and subtropics. The results of this research will have an impact on integrated pest management, which is a critical component of sustainable agro-ecological systems in the U.S. and worldwide. With good cause, the public is becoming increasingly concerned about the health and environmental impacts of synthetic pesticides, and their use is becoming highly restricted. The T-MARC-BIO program will add to the toolkit of effective, long-term strategies for both pest control and monitoring of invasive species, while minimizing the impacts of pesticides on human and environmental health. American students will gain valuable research experience through conducting projects in the multidisciplinary settings in Australia, as well as the life-changing learning, interpersonal skills, empathy, and global awareness that come from living and working in a foreign country. T-MARC-BIO will contribute to developing a diverse, globally engaged scientific workforce pipeline by recruiting highly qualified female, low-income, and minority students, who are underrepresented in the sciences.Through T-MARC-BIO, students will (1) participate in a semester-long pre-travel research preparation and cross-cultural program, (2) conduct rigorous individual research projects on tephritid fruit flies during a seven-week period in Australia, (3) immerse themselves in Australian culture as they participate in research fields with global interest and impact, and (4) communicate their research through scientific journals and presentations, and in the local community. The U.S. and Australia make significant research investments to both enhance control of existing pest fly populations and improve interdiction of invasive flies entering the respective countries. The results of T-MARC-BIO student-assisted research will advance knowledge in three areas: tephritid fruit fly physiology and behavior, organic analysis and synthesis of fruit fly lures, and field ecology and management techniques. Collectively, these results will address gaps in understanding of how fruit flies metabolize secondary plant compounds, what they smell and what attracts them, how they move in the environment, and how to develop more effective control techniques, such as attractant fruit fly lures. Evaluation findings about the T-MARC-BIO project will be applicable to small (two- and four-year) colleges, their administrators, and STEM faculty. T-MARC-BIO students will share the benefits of enriched, multidisciplinary academic research training and participating in publishable research that advances STEM fields, as well as basic and applied science.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.