Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
1993 The University of Texas at El Paso (143881)
Principal Investigator: Harvey,Michael Gaston
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 20,700
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): No
Start and End Dates: 3/30/23 - 3/25/24
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Biological Sciences
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Biological Sciences
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: T/RTG (REU) Supplement: Capturing ongoing diversification: a complete phylogeny of an avian radiation using dense sampling of tips
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
CFDA Link: NSF
47.074
Program Title:
Biological Sciences
CFDA Linked: Biological Sciences
Note:
This is an REU supplement request that would support the participation of an undergraduate student at The University of Texas at El Paso. The overall goal of our research is to estimate a phylogeny including all evolutionary units within suboscine birds and to use that phylogeny for a comprehensive systematic revision of the group. The suboscine clade is one of the largest avian radiations of similar age, and comprises roughly one-third of all Neotropical birds. A completely sampled phylogeny will serve as a key tool for research on speciation and evolution both in our research group and in the community at large. However, our initial data collection has indicated that several key groups within suboscines are extremely poorly sampled and have current taxonomies that appear to fail to properly capture diversity at and below the species level. These groups provide excellent opportunities for an REU student to conduct focused laboratory work and analyses to identify cryptic diversity that will also contribute to the completion of the project as a whole. The student would be expected to help design the sampling, collect the data, analyze the data, and write it up for publication. The student would also be expected to present the results of their work at a scientific meeting, either as a poster or an oral presentation. Research will be conducted for eight weeks during the 2023 summer. They will receive layered mentorship from the PI, collaborators, senior personnel, postdoctoral researcher(s), and graduate students working on the project. We will assess their work using the online Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment BIO REU assessment tool from the University of Colorado and with the help of Helix Solutions, the independent organization providing assessment for the project as a whole.
Discussion: No discussion notes