This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2005. 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 "Roles of the bacteria, PA1, in larval and adult life histories of Porites corals." The research uses molecular, cellular, and genomic approaches to describe and understand the role of a recently discovered Porites species-specific coral bacterial symbiont, named PA1. The distribution of PA1 across Porites species and habitats provides clues about the ecological, phylogenetic, and ontogenic roles this bacteria plays for coral establishment, health, and resilience while completion of the genome will help determine how the PA1-Porites symbiosis is established, regulated, and altered. The training plan consists of expanding the Fellow's breadth of knowledge and training her in a suite of lab and field based techniques in preparation for an academic career in the basic biology of marine organisms.
