NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

Cammen Kristina M, Bangor ME

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Dr. Kristina Cammen is "Evolutionary ecology of population decline and rebound in pinniped species in the Northwest Atlantic." The host institutions for this fellowship are the University of Maine, Orono and St. Mary's University, and the sponsoring scientists are Dr. Michael Kinnison and Dr. Timothy Frasier. Many species today have been broadly shaped by a shared history of population decline followed, in some cases, by subsequent recovery. Evolutionary theories predict that these periods of bottleneck and exponential growth will result in the reduction and expansion of genetic diversity, respectively; however, these hypotheses have rarely been tested in natural populations. Past limitations to empirical assessment have been largely due to the difficulties of sampling across appropriate temporal and spatial scales, but these limitations can be addressed with the use of long-term biological collections and archaeological samples. Through access to such sample collections from the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the University of Maine, Dalhousie University, and St. Mary's University, the fellowship research study documents the genomic signature of population decline, growth, and expansion in gray and harbor seals in the Northwest Atlantic. Historically, harbor and gray seals were largely extirpated from US waters in this region, but within the past several decades both species have rapidly rebounded and expanded. Recently developed genomic approaches, e.g., RAD sequencing, are being used to investigate change in both neutral and adaptive genetic markers, representing complementary evolutionary forces of drift and selection, which may respond in different directions and at different time lags to demographic shifts. In addition, analyses of adaptive markers may facilitate the identification of new candidate genes related to dispersal across populations and evolutionary rescue within populations. This research is particularly relevant within the context of rising ocean temperature that may further alter population abundance and range in the future. Training goals for the fellowship have a particular focus on further developing analytical, bioinformatics, and laboratory skills to advance the development of the Fellow's career and research agenda in ecological and evolutionary genomics. In addition, educational outreach is dedicated to broadening the participation of women in STEM and building scientific and leadership skills in K-12 and undergraduate students by providing hands-on research experiences and developing and distributing case study teaching materials that incorporate the proposed research process and outcomes.