NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Mysticetes and baleen as bioindicators of microplastics in marine food webs

这项行动资助了2019财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，使用生物收集的研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式利用生物收藏。目前尚不清楚须鲸摄入微塑料的程度，摄入是如何发生的，以及是否有任何健康影响。本研究寻求这些问题的答案。在鲸鱼中，鲸须就像一个筛子，在滤食过程中保留猎物。第一个目标是使用实验室实验来测试鲸须捕获悬浮在水中的微塑料的有效性。这位研究员还将使用鲸须标本来研究摄入塑料中的污染物。在活鲸中，鲸须在磨损并从牙龈线向外生长之前保持完整两年到二十年，取决于物种。这一过程类似于人类指甲或树木年轮的过程，使得鲸须可以作为鲸鱼内部（身体过程）和外部（例如，污染物）的条件下，该部分的鲸须增长的时间。第二个目标将建立方法，使用鲸须跟踪污染物暴露随着时间的推移。此外，研究员还将指导高中生、本科生和研究生，培养这些年轻学者的第一次研究经验，并帮助研究员的专业发展。鲸须是神秘鲸特有的角质化过滤结构。尽管它的标志性地位，鲸须仍然是谜和研究不足。在这项工作中，鲸须将从加州新鲜死亡的标本中获得，并从史密森国家自然历史博物馆的收藏品中获得。该研究员研究的第一个目的是使用斯坦福大学霍普金斯海洋站的层流池测试鲸须在保留悬浮在水柱中的微塑料方面的功效。在这个实验中，研究人员将使用具有不同进食方式和鲸须形态的物种的鲸须来阐明哪些神秘生物更有可能直接从水柱中摄取微塑料，以及微塑料颗粒的大小和浮力如何影响它们的捕获。对于该研究员的第二个目标，将使用高分辨率气相色谱-质谱法分析鲸须样本中指示合成材料摄入的污染物（例如，邻苯二甲酸酯增塑剂、氯化和溴化阻燃剂）。使用相同的分析方法，该研究员将利用鲸须的生长特性来创建多年的个体内年表，以前所未有的地理和物候分辨率来澄清微塑料暴露。总的来说，这些研究将对须鲸作为微塑料污染的领头羊进行关键评估，并将释放须鲸收藏品的未开发潜力，以评估整体海洋生态系统的健康。此外，该研究员将与加州海洋联盟开发外展材料，通过斯坦福大学的本科教育副教务长（VUE）计划指导本科生，并通过科学帮助高中生参与青年活动（是的！）该奖项反映了NSF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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. It is unknown to what degree baleen whales ingest microplastic, how ingestion occurs, and if there are any health effects. This research seeks answers to these questions. In whales, baleen acts as a sieve and retains prey during filter-feeding. The first objective uses a laboratory experiment to test baleen's effectiveness in trapping microplastics suspended in water. The fellow will also use baleen specimens to study pollutants derived from ingested plastic. In a live whale, baleen remains intact for two years to two decades, dependent on species, before it wears out and is replaced by growing outwards from the gum line. This process, which is similar to that of human fingernails or tree rings, allows baleen to serve as a record of variation in a whale's internal (body processes) and external (e.g., pollutants) conditions at the time that portion of the baleen grew. The second objective will establish methods to use baleen to track contaminant exposure over time. In addition, the fellow will mentor high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, fostering these young scholars' first research experiences and aiding the fellow's professional development.Baleen is a keratinized filtering structure unique to mysticete whales. Despite its iconic status, baleen remains enigmatic and understudied. For this work, baleen will be acquired from freshly deceased specimens that strand in California, and from collections stored at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The first aim of the fellow's research is to test baleen's efficacy in retaining microplastics suspended in the water column using a laminar flow tank at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. In this experiment, the fellow will use baleen from species with divergent feeding styles and baleen morphologies to elucidate which mysticetes are more likely to ingest microplastics directly from the water column, and also how microplastic particle size and buoyancy influences their capture. For the fellow's second objective, baleen specimens will be analyzed using high resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for contaminants that are indicative of synthetic material ingestion (e.g., phthalate plasticizers, chlorinated and brominated flame-retardants). Using the same analytical methods, the fellow will leverage the accreting property of baleen to create multi-year intraindividual chronologies that will clarify microplastic exposure in unprecedented geographic and phenological resolution. Taken together, these studies will provide a critical assessment of baleen whales as bellwethers for microplastic pollution and will release the untapped potential of baleen collections to assess overall marine ecosystem health. Furthermore, the fellow will develop outreach materials with the California Ocean Alliance, mentor undergraduates through Stanford's Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) program, and assist high school students in their Youth Engagement through Science (YES!) internship at the Smithsonian Institution.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.