NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Broadening participation of Native Americans in STEM fields by investigating pulmonary adaptations among marine mammals

2020 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：通过研究海洋哺乳动物的肺部适应，扩大美洲原住民对 STEM 领域的参与

• 批准号: 2010666
• 负责人: Robert Cieri
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Cieri, Robert
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2010666&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The broad objective of this research project is to investigate how the lungs of marine mammals have adapted to ocean life using medical imaging and fluid dynamics simulations. Many marine mammals completely empty and fill their huge lungs quickly at the surface, rapidly transporting large volumes of air. During diving their lungs must either resist the high pressure or collapse and re-inflate at the surface without injury. Changes in lung shape may alter gas mixing and blood-gas exchange. These investigations will provide insights into marine mammal evolution, and lung structure and function, leading to advances in respiratory fluid simulations. The fellow will leverage cultural connections between Coastal Salish persons and marine mammals to broaden the impact of the work. Broadening participation activities include outreach to the Coastal Salish community, showcasing the science at summer camps and mentorship programs, to increase interest and retention of Native American students in STEM. The fellow will use computed tomography, computational fluid dynamics and plesmography to characterize the structure and function of marine mammal lungs. Specifically, a range of pinnipeds and cetaceans will be investigated to ask: (1) How does airway geometry evolve with maximum diving depth and mode of surface ventilation? (2) What morphology corresponds to airways that resist vs. deform during airway collapse, and what ecological traits are related to the type of airway collapse? (3) How do the pulmonary airflow patterns of marine mammals differ from terrestrial mammals and vary with ventilatory mode and habitual or maximum diving depth? The fellow will utilize cultural connections between Coastal Salish persons and marine mammals to promote participation of groups underrepresented in biology by (1) recruiting Native America students into STEM education through interactive lung biology activities at pre-established camps and summer science programs; (2) increasing STEM outcomes for current Native American students by partnering with the Aboriginal Undergraduate Mentoring program to mentor students on the project and; (3) increase connections with Native American communities outside of the academy through collaborative symposia held at the First Nations Longhouse and Xwi7xwa library on campus and a collaborative natural history museum exhibit.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.

该行动为2020财年的生物学生物学研究金提供了一项NSF博士后研究奖学金，扩大了人数不足的生物学的参与。奖学金支持该研究员的研究和培训计划，这将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究项目的广泛目标是研究如何使用医学成像和流体动力学模拟来适应海洋哺乳动物的肺。许多海洋哺乳动物完全空着，并在表面迅速充满了巨大的肺部，迅速运输了大量空气。在潜水期间，他们的肺必须抵抗高压或塌陷，并在表面上重新膨胀而不会受伤。肺形的变化可能会改变气体混合和血气交换。这些研究将提供有关海洋哺乳动物进化以及肺结构和功能的见解，从而导致呼吸道流体模拟的进步。该研究员将利用沿海萨利什人和海洋哺乳动物之间的文化联系来扩大作品的影响。扩大参与活动包括向沿海萨利什社区推广，展示夏令营和指导计划的科学，以增加对STEM中美洲原住民学生的兴趣和保留。该研究员将使用计算机断层扫描，计算流体动力学和法术来表征海洋哺乳动物肺的结构和功能。具体而言，将研究一系列的夹杂物和鲸类，以提出：（1）气道几何形状如何以最大的潜水深度和表面通气方式演化？ （2）哪些形态与在气道塌陷期间抵抗变形的气道相对应，哪些生态特征与气道塌陷类型有关？ （3）海洋哺乳动物的肺气气流模式与陆生哺乳动物有何不同，并且随通气模式以及习惯或最大潜水深度有所不同？该研究员将利用沿海萨利什人和海洋哺乳动物之间的文化联系来促进（1）通过预先建立的营地和夏季科学计划的互动肺肺生物学活动招募生物学的人的参与； （2）通过与原住民本科指导计划合作，以指导该项目的学生来增加美国原住民学生的STEM成果； （3）通过在第一民族长屋（Longhouse）和校园内的XWI7XWA图书馆举行的合作研讨会和校园内的XWI7XWA图书馆以及合作的自然历史博物馆展览展览会提高与美国原住民社区的联系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过该基金会的知识分子优点和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得的支持。