NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY22: Investigating evolutionary mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence and facilitate local adaptation in gray wolves

Hennelly, Lauren Mae, Davis IL

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. In response to present-day climate change, many species are predicted to shift their distribution and adapt to new environments. This prediction is partly based on knowledge from the past. Climatic changes of the past caused species to undergo dramatic shifts in their range, which sometimes caused once isolated populations to come together in contact with each other. Past shifts in climate and species ranges also required some populations to quickly adapt to new environments. This raises two important questions: how do closely related species or populations remain genetically distinct contact? And what are the sources of genetic variation that facilitate rapid adaptation to new environments? This project will use cutting-edge genomic techniques to investigate these two questions using the gray wolf (Canis lupus) as a study system. The impact of this work will further scientific understanding on the implications of present-day climate change on species, while also providing opportunities in training for early career researchers in Pakistan and other countries. This research will utilize genomic tools, computational methods, and collaborate with a wide range of researchers to investigate mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence and facilitate local adaptation in gray wolves. To address these questions, the Fellow will use ~1,000 gray wolf genomes that are already sequenced or to be collected and sequenced during the project. The Fellow will combine these data with publicly available environmental data to address these three aims (1) identify key historical, environmental, and ecological factors that help explain patterns of phylogenetic and populations genomic structure for worldwide gray wolves, (2) evaluate evidence for mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence, and (3) distinguish genetic sources (e.g. adaptive introgression, standing variation) that facilitate adaptation to new environments. This work will have significant conservation implications for gray wolf conservation, especially for wolf populations that are data deficient and endangered. The Fellow will continue her efforts during her PhD to mentor early career researchers in Pakistan, as well as develop and conduct workshops on data analysis and phylogenetic methods to universities in Pakistan and other countries. 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.