NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

Evangelista Dominic A, Yonkers NY

Investigators

Abstract

Postdoctoral Fellow: Dominic A. Evangelista Proposal Number: 1608559 This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016, 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 Dominic A. Evangelista is "Evolution and diversification of Blaberoid cockroaches." The primary host institution for this fellowship is Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) of Paris, France and the sponsoring scientists are Frederic Legendre (of the MNHN) and Akito Kawahara (co-sponsoring at Florida Museum of Natural History). Funding is provided in partnership with NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE). Understanding how shifts in biodiversity are driven by biotic and abiotic factors is a major goal of evolutionary biology. This project explores phylogenetic diversification using as a model lineage the cockroaches (the super-family Blaberoidea), a group that is ubiquitous, diverse, and economically important. Blaberoid cockroaches are highly diverse (3600 species) and there are no tested hypotheses for what drove their diversification. The Fellow is exploring three paradigms as diversity drivers: 1) Large changes in genital morphology that prevent interbreeding of lineages; 2) evolution of novel parental care strategies; and 3) invasion of new biogeographical ranges. The questions addressed by this research include: (1) What is the phylogeny of Blaberoidea?; (2) Where on the phylogenetic tree, and when in evolutionary time, did the major increases in diversification rates occur in Blaberoidea?; and (3) Which evolutionary events (as in the three paradigms above) best predict increases in diversity? The first goal is being achieved through phylogenetic reconstruction using thorough taxon sampling, next-gen sequencing and phylogenomic methods. Using the phylogenetic tree, a major product of this research, the Fellow is identifying points where there have been increases in diversification rates. Shifts in these rates are then being used in the context of trait changes to understand how traits may have driven diversification in Blaberoidea. The Fellow is receiving advanced training in next-generation phylogenetic methods and engaging in several broader impacts including: (1) mentoring students, (2) providing science outreach to young people, and (3) generating intellectual products with a societal impact. The Fellow is training undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art techniques including Illumina sequencing, library prep, targeted enrichment and phylogenetic methodology. As an American scientist travelling abroad, the Fellow is taking advantage of the opportunity to do science outreach in a community where he has a novel cultural perspective. Specifically, he is doing numerous outreach events at local grade schools, including insect display exhibitions, interactions with live pet cockroaches, and an age-appropriate research talk. The goals of these events are to expose students to insect biodiversity, show science as an achievable career, and communicate research findings. This project involves insects that illicit strong reactions among the general population. By broadly publicizing the research findings, the Fellow is teaching the general public about the amazing biodiversity of cockroaches and providing more positive attention to these interesting insects.