US - Uruguay Planning Visit: Ampullariid Model using Phylogenetics, Laboratory Inquiry and Field Investigations into Ecology and Distribution

Southwestern University, Georgetown TX

Investigators

Abstract

This U.S. - Uruguay and Brazil Planning Visit proposals will support one junior and two senior researchers and two undergraduate students from the U.S., under the direction of Dr. Romi Burks, on a planning visit to Uruguay and Brazil in November 2010. This planning visit will result in apple snail investigators from the United States, Uruguay and Brazil meeting together, sharing recent research developments, brainstorming complementary research questions and writing a full IRES proposal that incorporates undergraduates into their program. The team blends expertise from museums (Natural History Museum of Montevideo, Smithsonian Institute), research universities (University of Hawaii, Universidad de la República, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Brazil) and an undergraduate institution (Southwestern University) to create diverse student research experiences focused on three sub-disciplines of biology: namely phylogenetics, biography and ecology. The research topics include quantifying genetic variation in this understudied group, identifying patterns of speciation, determining reproductive potential and then hypothesizing about range expansion implications. The visit will involve one early-career researcher and two students. It has the potential to generate a larger international program, which will allow students to gain experience in multiple collection and archiving techniques for apple snails while forging international partnerships with Uruguayan and Brazilian investigators.