NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

2013 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金

• 批准号: 1306059
• 负责人: Iris Levin
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Levin Iris I
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2016-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1306059&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

Integrating behavior, engineering and mathematics: Applying modern network theory to social transmission of parasitesGaps in the understanding of parasite transmission and social networks exist due to 1) lack of experimentation 2) difficulty obtaining accurate measures of social interactions and 3) analytical challenges associated with robust statistical comparisons of networks. This research involves describing social networks in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) using digital transceiver devices to characterize fine-scale social interactions among individuals belonging to independent subpopulations. Parasites will be experimentally removed from half the individuals per network and sampled later to measure recolonization of directly transmitted parasites relative to social network properties calculated based on digitally recorded contact rates between members of the tagged populations. A second experiment will manipulate the network rather than the parasites, through alteration of host ventral plumage color, a trait known to affect physiology and social behavior. There is growing recognition of the importance of individual-level heterogeneity in host behavior in the context of parasite transmission, and this experimental approach is a powerful way to understand relative contributions of social network measure on parasite transmission as well as understanding how features of morphology and physiology influence position in social networks. Motivated by career goals in undergraduate research and education, the inclusion of University of Colorado-Boulder undergraduate students in this research is a high priority, especially participation by students typically underrepresented in the field. The research will enhance the University's infrastructure by establishing collaboration between the Applied Math and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology departments. Outreach associated with this project includes working with citizen scientists through the Swallow Surveillance program.

整合行为、工程和数学：将现代网络理论应用于寄生虫的社会传播对寄生虫传播和社交网络的理解存在差距，原因是：1）缺乏实验2）难以获得社会互动的准确测量以及3）与鲁棒性相关的分析挑战网络的统计比较。 这项研究涉及使用数字收发器设备来描述家燕（Hirundo rustica）的社交网络，以表征属于独立亚群的个体之间的精细社交互动。 寄生虫将通过实验从每个网络的一半个体中去除，并在稍后进行采样，以测量直接传播的寄生虫相对于社交网络属性的重新定殖，社交网络属性是根据标记群体成员之间的数字记录接触率计算得出的。 第二个实验将通过改变宿主腹侧羽毛颜色来操纵网络而不是寄生虫，这是一种已知会影响生理和社会行为的特征。人们越来越认识到寄生虫传播背景下宿主行为中个体水平异质性的重要性，这种实验方法是了解社交网络测量对寄生虫传播的相对贡献以及了解形态和特征如何影响寄生虫传播的有效方法。生理学影响社交网络中的地位。 出于本科生研究和教育职业目标的推动，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的本科生参与这项研究是一个高度优先事项，特别是该领域代表性不足的学生的参与。 该研究将通过在应用数学、生态学和进化生物学系之间建立合作来增强大学的基础设施。 与该项目相关的外展活动包括通过燕子监测计划与公民科学家合作。