REU SITE: Systematics, Evolution and Conservation for the 21st Century

该REU遗址奖授予位于纽约的美国自然历史博物馆(AMNH)，将在2020-2022年夏季支持12名本科生为期10周的培训。预计共有36名学生将在该方案中接受培训，这些学生主要来自研究机会有限的学校或代表性不足的群体。学生们将写一份报告，公开介绍他们的研究成果，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。将通过SALG Urssa在线工具对该方案进行评估。项目结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。REU项目的主题是系统学和进化，以及这些如何为保护优先事项提供信息。学生们将得到博物馆馆长和科学家的指导，他们对特定的有机体进行研究。在选择参与者时，重点放在有效的学生-项目和学生-导师匹配上；申请不接受成绩单和测试分数。项目将探索从古生物学到保护遗传学的生物多样性学科，这些学科构成了博物馆的全部研究范围。学生将学习数据收集方法，包括形态学、高级DNA测序、计算机断层扫描和大规模并行的下一代基因组学。参与者将接受计算分析方面的培训，包括形态计量学、生态建模和系统发育学。学生将通过深入熟悉150年来收集的3400多万份标本、每周的讲座和培训课程以及关于伦理和负责任的科学行为的讲习班，加强学生对博物馆作为时空多样性管理者的作用和责任的了解。学生们将对参加博物馆其他暑期项目的高中生进行近乎同行的指导。有关该计划的更多信息，请访问www.amnh.org/rEU/，或联系PI(Siddall@amnh.org Mark Siddall博士)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力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 REU Site award to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), located in New York, NY, will support the training of 12 undergraduate students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. It is anticipated that a total of 36 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from under-represented groups, will be trained in the program. Students will write a report and give a public presentation on their research accomplishments and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will be done thru the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.The theme of the REU program is systematics and evolution and how those inform conservation priorities. Students will be mentored by the museum curators and scientists conducting research on specific groups of organisms. In selecting participants, emphasis is placed on effective student-project and student-mentor matching; transcripts and test scores are not accepted in the application. Projects will explore biodiversity disciplines from paleontology to conservation genetics that comprise the full research scope of the museum. Students will engage in data gathering methodologies, including morphology, advanced DNA sequencing, computed tomography, and massively parallel next-generation genomics. Participants will be trained in computational analytics including morphometrics, ecological modelling and phylogenetics. Students’ knowledge of the role and responsibility of museums as stewards of diversity through time and space will be enhanced through on-boarding in-depth familiarity with the over 34 million specimens collected over 150 years, weekly lectures and training sessions as well as workshops on ethics and responsible scientific conduct. Students will engage in near-peer mentoring of high-school students who are participants in the museum’s other summer programs. More information about the program can be found by visiting www.amnh.org/REU/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Mark Siddall at siddall@amnh.org).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.