NSF Award
2322123
Determining the boundaries between species is critical for answering basic questions in biodiversity science and in the application of conservation legislation and wildlife management plans. Genomics has influenced every field in biology and the study of biodiversity is no exception; however, meaningful training in genomic techniques is unevenly distributed. This Mid-Career Award supports training in genomic tools in the study of species boundaries and speciation for faculty and students at Marshall University in West Virginia, through a unique training partnership with Ohio State University. This project leverages an international collaboration to study systematics, biogeography, and speciation in three groups of songbirds on the islands of Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Because islands cover only 7% of the earth but harbor 20% of the planet’s biodiversity, studying island species in order to understand adaptive radiations is especially important. This research will cultivate new knowledge of the island birds of East Asia and foster better tools for understanding species boundaries and speciation. The work will also enable training and research opportunities in cutting-edge genomic methodologies and analyses, applicable across the life sciences, to faculty and students at a primarily undergraduate university in Appalachia. <br/><br/>The goal of the Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) program is to enhance the research careers of mid-career scientists. The application of genomics in systematics and evolutionary biology has revolutionized these fields; however, faculty at many smaller institutions are saddled with teaching and other obligations that limit the amount of time to devote to training in new methods. As the sophistication of the questions addressed in systematics and evolutionary biology grow, typical low-throughput sequencing techniques are no longer adequate. This MCA award partners faculty and students at Marshall University in West Virginia (EPSCoR state) with faculty at Ohio State University experienced in population genomics and molecular systematics. This partnership will enable training in the application of cutting-edge genomic tools in the study of species delimitation, speciation, population genetics, adaptive evolution, and biogeography. Specifically, this project will produce and analyze genome-scale and whole genome datasets for three codistributed avian groups in East Asia – the yellow-breasted flycatcher complex, the varied tit complex, and the Asiatic white-eyes. Genomic data applied to these groups will allow researchers to assess the reliability of different species delimitation methods, the influence of island geography on population parameters, and the impact of adaptive evolution on the genome.<br/><br/>This project is jointly funded by the Evolutionary Processes Program, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
