NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

Odom Karan J, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Postdoctoral Fellow: Karan J. Odom Proposal Number: 1612861 This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to engage in research and training that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Karan J. Odom is "Investigating elaborate trait evolution in female and male song across songbirds." The host institution for this fellowship is Cornell University and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Mike Webster, Irby Lovette and Aaron Rice. The goal of this project is to reconstruct and understand the evolution of elaborate bird song in female and male songbirds. Bird song, an elaborate acoustic trait, is often thought to have evolved primarily in males to gain access to mates. However, previous research shows that female song is widespread in songbirds and has been lost in certain major lineages. Therefore, song likely evolved early in female and male songbirds and the current male-female differences in song must have resulted at least in part from the evolutionary loss of song in females. The fellow is using bird song recordings from the extensive collection of the Cornell University's Macaulay Library, to determine how song structure has changed over time in both males and females. The Fellow is developing quantitative methods to allow male and female song to be compared on a phylogenetic tree, assessing how gains and losses of song structure contribute to dimorphism, and comparing song dimorphism to a broad range of ecological and natural history correlates. The Fellow is receiving training that supports her career goal to obtain a university faculty position in which she can develop an innovative and dynamic research program on the evolution of complex animal communication. The use of existing collections and other resources available through Cornell?s Lab of Ornithology (CLO) allows the Fellow to build strong computational bioacoustic and phylogenetic skills while conducting cutting-edge research within her field. The Fellow is also implementing a substantial outreach and citizen science component to promote use of biological collections. The Fellow is developing materials for observing and recording female song that are being disseminated through a project website that links to Macaulay and CLO?s resources for citizen scientists. She is also writing popular articles for wildlife magazines and participating in recording workshops to educate volunteer recordists and wildlife enthusiasts. Finally, the Fellow is also promoting involvement of girls in STEM by participating in local science fairs and career days.