Proposal Number 1608997
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 that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Dr. Eva K. Fischer is "Maintenance and evolution of parental care in poison frogs." The host institution for this fellowship is Harvard University and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Lauren A. O'Connell.
The goal of the Fellow's research is to identify physiological, neural, and molecular mechanisms that promote parental care within species, as well as those promoting the evolution of alternative parental care strategies across species. To do so, the Fellow is taking advantage of the rich behavioral diversity of South American poison frogs that exhibit maternal care, paternal care, and biparental care. Different parental care behaviors have evolved across many different species, and allow animals to take advantage of novel habitats and thereby contribute to biodiversity. While parental care has long been appreciated as an evolutionary innovation, very little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the maintenance and evolution of parental behaviors. One particular challenge is that parental care is tightly linked with pair bonding in many species, making it difficult to identify mechanisms specifically associated with parental behaviors. Comparisons across species with different care strategies allow the Fellow to distinguish mechanisms of parental behavior from those of pair bonding in both males and females. Furthermore, the project takes advantage of the fact that male and female poison frogs can reverse their parenting behaviors. For example, female frogs of paternal care species sometimes provide care when males are inexperienced or disappear. Such reversed behavior may be an important precursor for the evolution of alternative parental care strategies. The Fellow is exploring three specific objectives, which are to identify how (1) hormonal changes, (2) neural activity, and (3) brain gene expression patterns, are linked to parenting behavior. Comparing data between males and females, and among both normal and role-reversing species, will uncover fundamental principles governing how parental care is maintained within a species and how diverse parental care strategies evolve across poison frogs and other animals.
The Fellow's training and career development goals are being met through activities that (1) develop poison frogs as a promising system for an independent research program, (2) refine the Fellow's science communication and professional skills, and (3) improve the Fellow's skills as a mentor, both within the university and the community. A major component of the Fellow's work is creating opportunities for scientific learning and creativity for diverse communities. Broadening participation of groups underrepresented in biology is being encouraged through a variety of activities. (1) The Fellow will is expanding the Little Froggers School Program founded by her sponsoring scientist (Dr. O'Connell) in 2012. This program provides live poison frogs to classrooms and utilizes them as a tool for teaching experiment-based science. The Fellow is also providing training and resources to teachers, regularly visiting participating classrooms, and developing web-based resources for teachers and students. These include lesson plans and activities, reading materials, interviews with researchers, a "Frogger Cam" live video stream, and forums for interaction and data sharing between researchers and students as well as among participating classrooms. (2) Through a partnership with the Science Club for Girls, the Fellow is coordinating activities for K-12 students of all ages, including mentorship of two high school research interns per year. The Science Club for Girls is a non-profit that serves students from racial and socio-economic backgrounds underrepresented in STEM fields, thereby providing meaningful scientific experiences for underserved students of all ages. (3) The fellow is mentoring undergraduates conducting independent research projects in the O'Connell Lab. The fellow is partnering with two Harvard Programs to target underrepresented groups, including racial minorities and first generation college students.
