NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Was there a Tropical Forest in North America after the end-Cretaceous Extinction?

美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后奖学金：白垩纪末期灭绝后北美是否存在热带森林？

• 批准号: 2305812
• 负责人: Gabriella Harris
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Harris, Gabriella Rossetto
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2026-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305812&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Was

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The project will examine a 63.8 million year old fossil plant deposit from Castle Rock, Colorado, USA, which was previously identified as the first tropical rainforest after the last mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. The Fellow will determine whether the Castle Rock flora should be classified as an actual tropical rainforest or a temperate forest by analyzing the plant lineages present and their reproductive methods. The research will advance scientific knowledge of how flowering plants evolved and forests recovered after the last mass extinction, leading to the emergence of the prominent plant families living today. Understanding the origins of modern rainforests is significant because comparable modern habitats are threatened by extinction due to present-day climate change and human impacts. This project will also broaden participation with the training of the Fellow to implement bilingual science communication and public outreach and mentor high school and undergraduate students of diverse backgrounds.The research will involve an in-depth study of well-preserved fossil leaves and reproductive remains from Castle Rock to determine the composition of the flora, its biogeographic and structural analogs, and fruit and seed dispersal strategies. The Fellow will analyze fossil leaf architecture and cuticles from extensive existing collections (n=~5000) at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science alongside comprehensive tropical collections at the Field Museum Herbarium to make taxonomic identifications. The distribution of nearest living relatives and extant rainforest reference plot data will be used to better determine what biogeographic region is the modern analog for the Castle Rock forest, i.e., living low-latitude Old World or Neotropical rainforests or warm-temperate rainforests more similar to those in East Asia and eastern North America. The morphology and dispersal types of fossil reproductive structures will be evaluated using CT scans and comparisons to modern rainforests and other fossil forests to assess plant adaptations. Training objectives will involve learning additional skills in angiosperm systematics, cuticle preparation, and reproductive morphology. The Fellow will also train and mentor other students from underrepresented groups in STEM. The results of the work will be shared with museum visitors, remotely to underserved schools, and globally with a bilingual YouTube video.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 2023 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。该项目将检查来自美国科罗拉多州罗克堡的一处拥有 6380 万年历史的植物化石沉积物，该沉积物此前被认为是上次导致恐龙灭绝的大灭绝之后的第一片热带雨林。该研究员将通过分析存在的植物谱系及其繁殖方法来确定城堡岩植物群是否应归类为真正的热带雨林或温带森林。这项研究将增进关于上次大规模灭绝后开花植物如何进化和森林恢复的科学知识，从而导致当今著名植物科的出现。了解现代雨林的起源具有重要意义，因为由于当今的气候变化和人类影响，类似的现代栖息地正面临灭绝的威胁。该项目还将通过培训研究员来扩大参与范围，以实施双语科学传播和公共宣传，并指导不同背景的高中生和本科生。该研究将深入研究保存完好的叶子化石和生殖遗骸。 Castle Rock 以确定植物区系的组成、其生物地理和结构类似物，以及果实和种子的传播策略。该研究员将分析丹佛自然科学博物馆现有大量收藏品（n=~5000）中的化石叶结构和角质层，以及菲尔德博物馆植物标本室的综合热带收藏品，以进行分类鉴定。最近活着的亲属的分布和现存的雨林参考地块数据将用于更好地确定哪个生物地理区域是城堡岩森林的现代模拟区域，即生活在低纬度的旧世界或新热带雨林或暖温带雨林更类似于那些在东亚和北美东部。将使用 CT 扫描来评估化石生殖结构的形态和分散类型，并与现代雨林和其他化石森林进行比较，以评估植物的适应能力。培训目标将包括学习被子植物系统学、角质层准备和生殖形态学方面的额外技能。该研究员还将培训和指导来自 STEM 领域代表性不足群体的其他学生。这项工作的成果将与博物馆参观者分享，远程分享给服务不足的学校，并通过双语 YouTube 视频在全球范围内分享。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，被认为值得支持。