NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

Tran Lucy, Ann Arbor MI

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 Lucy Tran is "Investigating the genetic and morphological outcomes of the colonization of new environments." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of California, Berkeley, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Erica Bree Rosenblum. Dispersal has important consequences for species on short and long-term timescales. Over ecological time, the dispersal ability of a species influences its geographic distribution. Over evolutionary time, differences in the dispersal ability of species manifest as disparities in the species' diversity. Therefore, dispersal links factors and processes that typically operate on opposing timescales. The fellowship research uses historical museum specimens that were collected across a gradient in time and space in conjunction with genomic and morphological tools to identify specific changes in phenotype that are associated with dispersal into new environments. It promises to advance understanding of the ways in which processes that vary in space and time influence how species respond to new environments encountered during dispersal. The study species is the nine-banded armadillo, which is currently undergoing a northward range expansion. Specimens from the mammal collections of the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Museum of Southwestern Biology, and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley are being used in the research. Training goals include enhancing skills in population genomics to conduct research at the intersection between micro- and macroevolution and to address nuanced macroevolutionary questions. Educational outreach is through programs at UC Berkeley and with the larger community that increase the awareness of STEM undergraduate programs among underrepresented students. Public outreach is to stakeholders in the regions where nine-banded armadillos occur and are expanding their range. Results promise a genomic framework for the management of the nine-banded armadillo, which is considered a nuisance species in parts of its U.S. distribution.