NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The morphological drivers and effects of long-distance bird migration

2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：长途鸟类迁徙的形态驱动因素和影响

• 批准号: 2109841
• 负责人: Oscar Johnson
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Johnson, Oscar
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109841&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, 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. Long-distance migration is one of the most spectacular behaviors in the natural world, but is costly for the animals that undertake it. The reasons why animals migrate are well known, but the changes in morphology (form and function) required to undertake that migration are less well known. This research aims to understand how long-distance migration affects the morphology of migratory species, and will further the understanding of the origins of migration. The Fellow will integrate large sets of genetic, morphological, and distributional data in a diverse group of birds to answer these questions both within and across species. To increase broader participation at the host institution the Fellow will mentor undergraduate students, organize community events for postdoctoral researchers, and organize outreach events at local K-12 schools.The factors that predispose species or populations to migratory behavior remain poorly understood. Previous research on avian migration has revealed the importance of extrinsic factors like seasonality and habitat as drivers of migration, but intrinsic attributes of birds such as their morphologies are also likely critical for predisposition to migratory lifestyles and remain largely unexplored. This project will compile morphological data from 1,300 species of suboscine passerine birds and combine these with phylogenetic and distribution data to test for associations between key morphological features and the gain and loss of seasonal migration. The Fellow will then investigate range-wide variation in morphology and migratory behavior in four species of birds that contain both migratory and resident populations to test whether geographical variation in morphological traits corresponds with differences in migratory behavior at the population level. This study will advance our understanding of the effects and drivers of migration, a behavior ubiquitous across the tree of life. This project will involve extensive training of undergraduate researchers at a predominantly Hispanic-serving institution in both field methods and cutting-edge molecular techniques, as well as mentoring undergraduate student research projects. The fellow will conduct outreach at K-12 schools using lessons and activities about bird migration.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.

该行动资助 2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持该研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。长途迁徙是自然界中最壮观的行为之一，但对于进行长途迁徙的动物来说代价高昂。动物迁徙的原因众所周知，但迁徙所需的形态（形式和功能）变化却鲜为人知。本研究旨在了解长距离迁徙如何影响迁徙物种的形态，并将进一步了解迁徙的起源。该研究员将整合不同鸟类群体的大量遗传、形态和分布数据，以回答物种内部和跨物种的这些问题。为了增加主办机构更广泛的参与，研究员将指导本科生，为博士后研究人员组织社区活动，并在当地 K-12 学校组织外展活动。导致物种或种群易发生迁徙行为的因素仍然知之甚少。先前对鸟类迁徙的研究揭示了季节性和栖息地等外在因素作为迁徙驱动因素的重要性，但鸟类的内在属性（如形态）也可能对迁徙生活方式的倾向至关重要，并且在很大程度上仍未得到探索。该项目将收集 1,300 种亚声雀形目鸟类的形态数据，并将这些数据与系统发育和分布数据相结合，以测试关键形态特征与季节性迁徙的增加和减少之间的关联。然后，该研究员将研究包含候鸟和常住种群的四种鸟类的形态和迁徙行为的广泛变化，以测试形态特征的地理变化是否与种群水平上迁徙行为的差异相对应。这项研究将增进我们对迁徙的影响和驱动因素的理解，迁徙是生命之树中普遍存在的一种行为。该项目将涉及在一个主要为西班牙裔服务的机构对本科生研究人员进行实地方法和尖端分子技术方面的广泛培训，并指导本科生研究项目。该研究员将利用有关鸟类迁徙的课程和活动在 K-12 学校进行推广。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。