This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY 2006. The fellowship supports research and training at the postdoctoral level at the intersection of biology and the informational, computational, mathematical, and statistical sciences. The goal of the fellowship is to provide training to a young scientist in preparation for a career in biological informatics in which research and education will be integrated. There is an increasing need for training in biological informatics at all occupational levels, and it is expected that Fellows trained through these fellowships will play important roles in training the future workforce.
The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled Predicting invasive species distributions using ecological niche models.
The training goals are: This project integrates existing data from geo-referenced specimens in natural history museum databases, GIS-based environmental data, biophysical models, physiological measurements, and genetic data from biological invasions to predict the non-native distribution of invasive species. It also compares ecological-niche modeling approaches using three focal invasive species, the brown anole lizard, cane toad, and olive fruit fly. This research requires proficiency with GIS technology, niche modeling methods, museum databases, and biophysical modeling. The main goal of this project is to develop a general framework for understanding and managing biological invasions, which requires integration of data and methods from ecology, evolution, and biodiversity informatics.
