CAREER: An Integrative Approach to Understanding and Communicating Evolution in Action

职业：理解和交流进化的综合方法

• 批准号: 1239148
• 负责人: Erica Rosenblum
• 金额: $ 42.74万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-15 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1239148&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Integrative; Approach; Understanding; Communicating

How quickly can new species form, and how predictable is evolution in nature? This project will address these questions in an ideal setting to study evolution in action. Multiple lizard species have evolved white coloration for camouflage in the gypsum dunes of White Sands, New Mexico. These species are undergoing the process of speciation on an extraordinarily rapid timescale. This project will illuminate the factors that accelerate the process of speciation in White Sands lizards. Field studies in nature and genetics studies in the lab will be used to understand how natural selection can lead so quickly to adaptation and speciation. The white lizards at White Sands provide a compelling, accessible example of evolution and represent a tremendous opportunity for research and public outreach. From an educational perspective this grant will increase scientific literacy and demystify evolutionary concepts for the public. The research will be integrated with educational outreach activities that use the dramatic landscape of White Sands to teach evolutionary biology to the general public. Outreach activities include offering a short "lizard camp" for elementary school children, developing a bilingual English-Spanish museum exhibit about evolution, and disseminating research results in textbooks, magazines and in the popular press.

新物种形成的速度有多快？自然界进化的可预测性如何？该项目将在理想的环境中解决这些问题，以研究行动中的进化。 在新墨西哥州白沙的石膏沙丘中，多种蜥蜴物种进化出了白色的伪装色。这些物种正在以极快的时间尺度经历物种形成过程。该项目将阐明加速白沙蜥蜴物种形成过程的因素。自然领域的实地研究和实验室的遗传学研究将用于了解自然选择如何如此迅速地导致适应和物种形成。白沙的白蜥蜴提供了一个引人注目的、易于理解的进化例子，并为研究和公众宣传提供了巨大的机会。从教育角度来看，这笔赠款将提高公众的科学素养，并揭开进化论概念的神秘面纱。该研究将与教育推广活动相结合，利用白沙的壮丽景观向公众教授进化生物学。外展活动包括为小学生提供一个简短的“蜥蜴营”，开发一个关于进化论的英语-西班牙语双语博物馆展览，以及在教科书、杂志和大众媒体上传播研究成果。