This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2007. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the participation of minority scientists at the postdoctoral level and to prepare them for positions of scientific leadership in US science. To attain this goal, the fellowship provides opportunities for postdoctoral training and research of the highest quality to recent doctoral recipients. It is expected that Fellows supported through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce.
The research and training plan is entitled "Systematics and mitochondrial genome evolution of fireworms." The goal of this study is to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Amphinomida (Annelida: Amphinomida), a group of poorly studied marine annelids. By assessing the evolutionary rates of mitochondrial (mt) genomes across diverse fireworm species, it will be possible to select appropriate mt markers in order to examine amphinomid relationships in a phylogenetic context. The sponsoring scientist is Kenneth Halanych at Auburn University.
The research and training sponsored by this fellowship involves extensive national and international (Mexico and France) collaboration, technical training in comparative genomics, marine fieldwork, mentorship and gaining a broader knowledge of invertebrate biodiversity.
