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 "Multiple-scale responses of terrestrial carbon flux to precipitation changes." The goal of the research is to develop and test a theory of soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer dynamics to produce response scenarios of carbon cycling to changes in precipitation. A mechanistic model is being developed to bridge information between field measured carbon fluxes with intra- and inter-annual remotely sensed vegetation changes in response to precipitation.
The training goals include acquiring new skills for the analysis and management of large and complex datasets and gaining experience in teaching and disseminating research results to non-scientists. This training addresses the needs of modern ecologists to transform the rapidly expanding ecological database into new understanding that addresses both scientific and societal needs.
