This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, 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 Nancy Chen is "Elucidating the genomic and phenotypic basis of contemporary evolution in Florida Scrub-Jays." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of California, Davis, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Graham Coop.
Recent studies have demonstrated evolution on ecological timescales (that is, shorter than previously thought) in a number of different organisms. Studying contemporary evolution is the only way to directly test many fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, such as the persistence of high levels of genetic variation in the presence of selection. Several theories seeking to explain this long-standing paradox have been proposed; however, empirical validations of these predictions are rare in natural populations because they require a particular type of biological collection: archived DNA samples with associated phenotypic and fitness measures for several thousand individuals over multiple generations. Despite increasing interest in measuring evolution in real-time and increasing availability of suitable datasets, rigorous methods for inferring natural selection from these types of data are lacking. Needed is the development of new methods that leverage longitudinal population samples and pedigree information to test for selection on complex traits at different life-history stages. This powerful framework for studying contemporary evolution further increases the insights that can be gained from biological collections. The fellowship research develops and applies novel analytical methods to study short-term selection on complex traits in the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), using a unique collection of archived blood and DNA samples at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates as well as associated demographic and ecological data stored at Archbold Biological Station. Application of these methods to the Florida Scrub-Jays improves our understanding of the importance of selection in maintaining genetic variation in natural populations.
Training goals include gaining the computational and quantitative skills necessary to develop and apply novel population genetics and statistical genetics methods. Broader impacts involve development of open-source software, undergraduate training in interdisciplinary research, and communication of research findings to the general public as well as government and conservation agencies. The Florida Scrub-Jay is one of the rarest birds in North America, and results from this work promise to inform conservation efforts for this species. Results are also being disseminated via educational outreach activities and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology?s communication outlets to increase public understanding of evolutionary processes operating within populations in ecological time.
