CAREER: Leveraging benthic foraminiferal biogeography to recognize ecosystem responses to climate change and engage first-generation students in scientific inquiry

该项目旨在了解古代海洋生态系统是如何被过去的变暖事件所改变的，这些事件可以作为未来全球环境变化的类比。通过分析现代和古代海洋沉积记录，PI Belanger将确定未来变暖可能导致的生态系统变化范围，并确定最容易受到其负面影响的海洋区域，包括海洋氧气的损失。这一评估对于维护具有经济价值的海洋资源十分重要。此外，这项工作将确定在过去变暖期间对二氧化碳储存重要的海洋区域，并提高我们预测全球碳循环将如何应对持续气候变化的能力，这对制定国家气候相关政策至关重要。PI Belanger将通过通过该赠款开发的结构化计划指导第一代大学生进行与该项目相关的研究，这将提高他们在STEM领域的保留率，从而扩大我们未来的STEM劳动力。表层水产生的有机物向深海的输送随气候变化而波动，这影响了海洋中储存的二氧化碳量以及氧气和生物体的分布。生活在洋底的单细胞生物，如底栖有孔虫，因有机质和氧气的不同而不同，因此，保存在海洋沉积物岩心中的它们的化石遗骸可用于重建这些环境因素。该项目将建立一个全球现代和化石底栖有孔虫数据库，量化底栖有孔虫与现代海洋条件之间的关系，并将这些关系应用于海洋沉积岩心记录，以重建过去变暖事件期间海洋变化的空间模式。这个数据驱动的项目将为第一代大学生提供可访问的研究经验，并通过一个新开发的计划创建一个支持性社区，该计划将扩大参与者的导师网络，并提供追求高级STEM教育所需的技能培训。此声明不可编辑，一旦保存在eJacket中，将添加到每个提案摘要中。此声明在摘要保存后可以查看，并且是只读的。此奖项反映了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 project aims to understand how ancient ocean ecosystems were altered by past warming events that serve as analogs for future global environmental change. By analyzing both modern and ancient marine sedimentary records, PI Belanger will determine the range of ecosystem changes possible with future warming and identify ocean regions that are most vulnerable to its negative impacts, including the loss of oceanic oxygen. This assessment is important for the maintenance of economically valuable marine resources. Further, this work will identify ocean regions important for CO2 storage during past warming and improve our ability to forecast how the global carbon cycle will respond to ongoing climate change, which is critical for formulating national climate-related polices. PI Belanger will mentor first-generation college students in research related to this project via a structured program developed through this grant, which will enhance their retention in STEM fields and, thus, broaden our future STEM workforce. The delivery of organic matter produced in the surface water to the deep ocean fluctuates with climate change, which affects the amount of CO2 stored in the ocean as well as the distribution of oxygen and organisms. Single-celled organisms, such as benthic foraminifera, living on the ocean floor vary depending on the organic matter and oxygen available, thus their fossilized remains preserved in ocean sediment cores can be used to reconstruct these environmental factors over time. This project will create a global database of modern and fossil benthic foraminifera, quantify the relationships between benthic foraminifera and modern oceanic conditions, and apply those relationships to marine sedimentary core records to reconstruct spatial patterns in oceanic changes during past warming events. This data-driven project will provide accessible research experiences to first-generation college students and create a supportive community through a newly-developed program which will broaden participants’ mentor networks and provide skills-training needed to pursue advanced STEM education.This statement is non-editable and added to every proposal Abstract once it has been saved in eJacket. This statement is viewable after the Abstract has been saved, and is read-only.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.