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 "Evolution of metal use in bacteria." This research investigates the evolution of the "metallome"-- the inorganic elements used within organisms. Variations of elemental selection in modern organisms can inform hypotheses about metallome evolution in response to changing environmental conditions over long periods of Earth's history. The research focus is on the relationship between the first major rise in atmospheric oxygen ca. 2.3 billion years ago and the evolution of metal-containing proteins critical for oxygen-sensitive metabolism in bacteria, particularly the iron-containing proteins nitrogenase and superoxide dismutase.
The training goals are to learn to conduct research at the intersection between biology and geology and effectively bridge these disciplines.
