The 3D Pollen Project Knowledge Exchange Fellowship

花粉对于自然界和研究它的科学来说都是至关重要的。花粉粒极其坚韧的外壳是生物化学的奇迹；它们多种多样而美丽的图案源于基础物理。花粉化石见证了数百万年来的植物进化、气候变化和生态系统动态。现代花粉可以分离物种，解决犯罪问题，并可能很快对植物进行基因工程改造，改进疫苗和给药。花粉的流动及其携带的遗传物质支撑着陆地上的所有生态系统：它既是一项价值不可估量的全球关键生态系统服务，也是一种滋扰，是人类的主要过敏原。让非专家参与与花粉相关的研究可能是具有挑战性的，尤其是因为花粉是微小的。这意味着与花粉的任何相互作用都必须是可视的，无论是通过2D图像还是通过专业显微镜，这两者都不能完全传达颗粒的3D形状、美观或图案。3D花粉项目允许人们以全新的方式与花粉互动，制作出准确的、比生命更大的模型，让观众可以将这些微观奇迹掌握在手中--将花粉世界和研究其多种功能的多个研究领域拉近了距离。到目前为止，3D花粉项目已经制作了35个物种的扫描和模型--这是世界上最大的3D花粉数据开放获取集合。它的文件被学术和非学术用户下载了数千次，其成果被广泛用于世界各地的公共参与、教学和研究活动。然而，这35个物种只是地球上花粉多样性中一小部分有偏见的物种：一个更大、更具代表性的收藏将对与更广泛的受众交流和公众理解花粉研究具有革命性意义。在3D花粉项目早期成功的基础上，该奖学金将为与花粉相关的公共参与创造一个无与伦比的、具有全球相关性的资源，为教学和研究带来次要的好处。将长期建立的自然历史收藏和先进的显微镜相结合，有针对性的方法将建立一个具有不同代表性的、开放获取的2D花粉扫描和3D模型文件收藏，至少比目前存在的任何收藏都大一个数量级。除了促进和支持世界各地研究人员的公共参与，该奖学金的成果将直接用于教育、授权和加强英国和巴西社区之间两个关键的与花粉相关的研究主题-古生态学和授粉的参与。该奖学金将与RHS Garden Harlow Carr合作，教育学童(包括来自Harlow Carr被Harlow Carr认定为“难以接触到的社区”的学生)和其他访客，使他们了解授粉是一种生态系统服务，以及野花对昆虫传粉者的重要性。结合花园最近安装的蜂房和草甸区域，一个数字和物理的“3D花粉踪迹”将教育游客关于“授粉者”花园管理--并使他们能够做出积极的改变。此外，在英国，该奖学金将促进自然英格兰的洪伯黑德泥炭地国家级自然保护区的研究人员和土地管理者之间的知识交流。公民科学工作坊将使用3D花粉教学资源帮助培训志愿者关键的古生态技能，发展和扩大自然英格兰的参与基础，并最终赋予志愿者‘准古生态学家’独立承担古环境研究元素的能力。最后，在巴西南部，该奖学金将使用花粉模型开始研究人员和土著社区之间的共享对话，将传统生态知识和科学研究汇聚在‘参与式古生态’中，以更好地了解景观的过去、现在和未来的人类环境动态。

Pollen is vital to the natural world, and to the sciences which research it. Pollen grains' immensely tough shells are marvels of biochemistry; their varied and beautiful patterns arise through fundamental physics. Fossil pollen bears witness to many millions of years of plant evolution, climate change and ecosystem dynamics. Modern pollen separates species and solves crimes, and may soon genetically engineer plants, improve vaccines and administer drugs. The flow of pollen, and the genetic material carried within, underpins all ecosystems on land: it is both an immeasurably valuable, globally critical ecosystem service and a nuisance, a major human allergen.Engaging non-specialists with pollen-related research can be challenging, though - not least because pollen is microscopic. This means any interactions with pollen must be visual, either through 2D images or specialist microscopy, neither of which fully convey the grains' 3D shapes, beauty or patterning. The 3D Pollen Project allows people to interact with pollen in entirely new ways, producing accurate, larger-than-life models that allow audiences to hold these microscopic marvels in their hands - bringing close the world of pollen and the multiple research fields which investigate its many functions.To date, the 3D Pollen Project has produced scans and models of 35 species - the largest open access collection of 3D pollen data in the world. Its files have been downloaded several thousand times by academic and non-academic users, with outputs used extensively for public engagement, teaching and research activities around the world. However, those 35 species represent only a tiny, biased fraction of the planet's pollen diversity: a larger, more representative collection would be revolutionary for the communication and public understanding of pollen research with wider audiences.Building on the 3D Pollen Project's early successes, this fellowship will create an unparalleled, globally relevant resource for pollen-related public engagement, with secondary benefits for teaching and research. Combining long-established natural history collections and advanced microscopy, a targeted approach will build a diversely representative, open-access collection of 2D pollen scans and 3D model files that is at least an order of magnitude larger than any that currently exists. As well as facilitating and supporting public engagement by researchers around the world, this fellowship's outputs will be directly used to educate, empower, and enhance participation in two key pollen-related research topics - palaeoecology and pollination - among communities in the UK and Brazil.This fellowship will work with RHS Garden Harlow Carr to educate schoolchildren (including from communities Harlow Carr has identified as 'hard to reach') and other visitors about pollination as an ecosystem service and wildflowers' importance to insect pollinators. Incorporating the Garden's recently installed apiary and meadow area, a digital and physical '3D pollen trail' will educate visitors about 'pro-pollinator' garden management - and empower them to make positive changes.Also in the UK, the fellowship will facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers and land managers at Natural England's Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve. Citizen science workshops will use 3D pollen teaching resources to help train volunteers in key palaeoecological skills, growing and broadening Natural England's participation base, and eventually empowering volunteer 'para-palaeoecologists' to undertake elements of palaeo-environmental research independently.Finally, in southern Brazil, this fellowship will use pollen models to begin shared conversations between researchers and Indigenous communities, bringing together traditional ecological knowledge and scientific research in a 'participatory palaeoecology' to better understand the landscape's past, present and future human-environment dynamics.