NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2018

Phillips Jennifer N, Sanger CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Recently, the rise in anthropogenic (human-made) sensory pollution - noise and nightlight - present conditions that are unprecedented in the fossil record and could fundamentally disrupt the ways in which animals interact with the environment. Limited research has focused on the singular effects of noise or light on animal communication and reproduction. However, human-made noise and light typically co-occur in today's human-dominated world, thus understanding their combined influence is an urgent conservation priority. This research aims to understand how human-caused noise and light affects reproductive success among a community of birds. The fellow will study nest placement, nesting success, and fledgling survival across noisy and dark, bright and quiet, noisy and bright, and quiet and dark sites. By focusing on several species, the fellow will be able determine how the bird community changes with sensory pollution, how behaviors within species change (i.e. nesting timing, feeding rates, movement or avoidance behaviors), and which species are more likely to succeed in sensory polluted areas. Determining the consequences of sensory pollution caused by anthropogenic activities lays the groundwork for conserving wild places, species, and reconciling spaces where nature and humanity interact. Results will be used to inform partners at the National Parks Division of Natural Sounds and Night Skies and Bureau of Land Management to help protect species and reconcile human pollution with conservation. This project broadens participation of groups underrepresented or invisible in biology, including LGBTQ, minorities and Hispanic students by funding multiple diverse students, and allowing the fellow to engage in novel research in sensory ecology and educational outreach. The fellow will mentor diverse students as a part of her field crew and is developing sensory ecology workshops for underrepresented students in central California. The fellow will test the effects of noise and light pollution on breeding success and fledgling survival of a community of birds in New Mexico by implementing a large-scale manipulative field experiment with four treatments (Noise, Light, Light + Noise, & Control). By measuring settlement patterns, reproductive success, and activity states, the fellow will test mechanistic pathways that link exposure to sensory stimuli to changes in fitness. Fledgling survival will be monitored with radio telemetry to test hypothesized direct and indirect, predator mediated consequences of exposure. The fellow expects noise to decrease hatching and juvenile success, while light increases clutch size and provisioning rates but increases vulnerability to predation. Thus, the fellow expects Light + Noise will have mixed effects on fitness. The fellow will also recruit and train diverse students to gain biological field experience and develop outreach and workshops for underrepresented students in K-12 schools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.