Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: Stronger Together: Exploring How Communal Care Reduces Individual Costs During Challenging Years

该IRES奖学金为来自查塔努加田纳西大学和纽约阿德尔菲大学的6名本科生和9名研究生提供在智利进行国际研究的经验。学生们将与来自智利圣地亚哥四所学术机构的研究人员进行为期12个月的合作。这项工作的科学目的是确定一种生理机制，即在恶劣的生态条件下，共同照顾后代可以提高degu（章鱼）的繁殖成功率。degu是一种只在智利发现的社会性啮齿动物。学生们将设计自己的实验，并参与一项实地研究，以确定共同护理如何减轻食物供应不足对育龄雌性及其后代的生理成本。学生将使用现代统计方法来分析关于德古社会生活、压力生理学和繁殖成功率的长期数据集。学生主导的研究将使我们对环境如何塑造共同照顾年轻人的后果的理解取得进展，因此，将广泛应用于保护生物学和人类健康。该项目以智利正在进行的IRES项目为基础，采用独特的“代际”咨询结构，促进当前和以前的IRES队列内部和之间的合作。该计划的一个重要的广泛影响是促进国际合作，为中学生和高中生提供STEM教育，并向公众宣传社区参与儿童保育对健康的好处。为了准备他们的国际经验，IRES学生将撰写关于有魅力的社会动物生活方式的摘要。这些文章将成为田纳西大学查塔努加分校STEM教育和健康与人类表现研究生开发的教育活动的一部分。参与田纳西大学查塔努加分校三个外展项目（GEAR UP、上进、上进数学与科学）的初高中学生将对社区关怀和健康生活方式的教育活动进行测试。活动将在网上向公众开放。鲍尔将在几个社交媒体平台上发表文章，讨论如何通过家庭帮助、社会援助和文化支持来减轻育儿压力。该研究的科学目标是确定生态如何影响群体繁殖的生殖后果，这是一种多母共同哺育后代的社会策略。最重要的实验是一项操纵性的实地研究，以确定低食物丰度如何影响公共繁殖的章鱼（一种智利特有的社会性啮齿动物）的内分泌和氧化应激。学生将在本研究框架内进行独立项目，并分析长期数据集。该项目每年支持5-6名学生（2名本科生，3-4名研究生，3年15人）。学生将与一个或多个pi进行为期一年的合作。来自智利圣地亚哥四所学术机构的四位合作者。有兴趣研究社会互动如何影响应激生理学的学生将与社会网络专家和前大学IRES学生合作？德·舍布鲁克，加拿大。在IRES之前，国际合作者将对项目设计和资助提案提供反馈。IRES将持续8-10周（6 - 8月）的本科生和18-20周（6 -10月）的研究生。在ires之后，国际合作者将对分析、演示和手稿提供反馈，从而提高学生的生产力和成功的可能性。项目成果、学生对项目和科学的看法以及学生在STEM方面的进步将在拟议项目期间和之后的3年内每年进行评估。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。

This IRES award provides 6 undergraduate and 9 graduate students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Adelphi University (N.Y.) with international research experience in Chile. Students will engage in 12 months of collaboration with researchers from four academic institutions in Santiago, Chile. The scientific aim of the work is to identify physiological mechanisms whereby communal care of offspring can enhance reproductive success under harsh ecological conditions in the degu (Octodon degus), a social rodent found only in Chile. The students will design their own experiments and contribute to a field study to determine how communal care mitigates the physiological costs of low food availability on breeding females and their young. Students will use modern statistical methods to analyze a long-term dataset on degu social living, stress physiology, and reproductive success. Student-led research will lead to progress in our understanding of how the environment can shape the consequences of communal care of young and thus, will have broad application to conservation biology and human health. The program builds on an ongoing IRES program in Chile and features an unique "generational" advising structure that promotes collaborations within and between current and previous IRES cohorts. An important broader impact of the program is to promote international collaboration, STEM education for middle and high school students, and public outreach about the health benefits of community engagement in child care. In preparation for their international experiences, IRES students will write summaries about the way charismatic social animals live. These writings will become part of educational activities developed by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga STEM Education and Health and Human Performance graduate students. Educational activities on communal care and healthy lifestyles will be tested with middle and high school students participating in three University of Tennessee at Chattanooga outreach programs (GEAR UP, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math & Science). Activities will be made available online to the general public. Co-PI Bauer will write posts for several social media platforms about how the stress of parenting can be mitigated through family help, societal assistance, and cultural support. The scientific objective of this IRES is to determine how ecology shapes the reproductive consequences of communal breeding, a social strategy in which multiple mothers nurse offspring communally. The overarching experiment is a manipulative field study to determine how low food abundance influences the endocrine and oxidative stress of communally breeding Octodon degus, a social rodent endemic to Chile. Students will conduct independent projects within the framework of this study and will also analyze a long-term dataset. This program supports 5-6 students per year (2 undergrad, 3-4 graduate; 15 individuals over a three-year period). Students will engage in year-long collaborations with one or more of the PIs? four collaborators at four academic institutions in Santiago, Chile. Students interested in studying how social interactions impact stress physiology will collaborate with an expert on social networks and former IRES student at the Universit? de Sherbrooke, Canada. Prior to IRES, international collaborators will provide feedback on project designs and grant proposals. IRES will last 8-10 weeks (June-August) for undergraduate students and 18-20 weeks (June-October) for graduate students. Post-IRES, international collaborators will provide feedback on analyses, presentations, and manuscripts, thereby increasing the likelihood of student productivity and success. Program outcomes, student perceptions of the program and science, and student progression in STEM will be assessed annually during and up to 3 years beyond the proposed program.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.