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National Evolutionary Synthesis Center Annual Repo rt 2011 Director’s Message
n the last Annual Report, I noted that NESCent was in fine shape; NESCent’s future – this is an ongoing topic of discussion at Inonetheless, I ended my message by saying that in 2011, I would NESCent, whether it is around a conference table, at lunch, or in focus on two areas where closer attention is warranted: improving the corridor outside my office. We spent a great deal of time with the the participation of underrepresented minorities in evolutionary Oversight Committee, Operations Committee, Advisory Board, and science, and securing the long-term future of NESCent beyond the amongst the directors and management team, thinking about how we 77,000 visitors from limits of NSF funding. should approach the Center’s sustainability. This year, I can again report that NESCent remains in good What does it mean to keep “NESCent” going? $22,777,000 health, with a vigorous and expanded science program that If we lose or change certain programs, is it still additional grant support includes new targeted activities, outreach that has reached out “NESCent”? And if we keep all our existing obtained by scientists beyond demographic, disciplinary and geographic borders, and programs, should we do so at the cost of the an informatics team that has shown, by example, the benefits that breadth of science that NESCent presently since 2007 as a direct accrue when IT is closely associated with the science it supports. supports? These, and a host of other questions, 176 result of their involvement As for underrepresented minorities at NESCent, and in have brought the question of sustainability countries evolutionary science, we spent a great deal of time trying to identify and NESCent’s future into sharper focus. Our visited the NESCent website with NESCent what can be done to effect greater participation. NESCent already discussions have reached a point where we think we can develop a supports the travel of MSI faculty and students to the Evolution business plan based around 2 or 3 realistic scenarios. This in itself conference, and we run (with Scott Edwards, at Harvard) a program gives us cause for cautious optimism – if the pathway to sustainability that mentors underrepresented undergraduate students at the is not guaranteed, at least we can see what the likely pathways might meeting. NESCent is also a sponsor of SACNAS, where we organize be, and we (along with our stakeholders) can begin to make plans. several activities. On reflection, we recognize that a major challenge In 2012, we will continue our focus on sustainability. By the end that relates to the representation of underrepresented minorities of that year, we will have a better idea of NESCent’s future, and we in the evolutionary sciences is one of recruitment – in short, very will begin, if necessary, to develop a transition plan. few students (underrepresented or otherwise) think of evolutionary Science Magazine biology as a career option. MORE This year, in an effort to counter this lack of awareness, we NPR • Scientific American introduced a new targeted activity, specifically, a call to develop THAN65 programs that will demonstrate the value of evolutionary science to articles on NESCent Discovery Channel underrepresented minorities in K-12 classrooms. We hope that by science appeared in the targeting the educational pipeline at a relatively early stage, students WIRED • The New York Times will appreciate that successful and stimulating careers are not the mainstream province of the professions alone. Allen Rodrigo :: 26 September 2011 Time Magazine media including
Table of Contents
5-9 Executive Summary 18 Education and Outreach
10 Highlights 20 Communications
13 cEnter-wide Initiatives 23 Assessment
14 Science and Synthesis 27 Administration
16 Informatics 29 Externally-funded Research Executive Summary
In 2011, NESCent continued to expand its programs, introducing Recognizing that 2014 is going to be a watershed year for NESCent, new activities (e.g., the Darwin Day Roadshow and the Evolution we move into 2012 preparing to deal with transition, and equip staff Film Festival, and a journalist-in-residence program), and bringing with skills to compete in the workforce. to fruition activities that were initiated in 2010 (e.g., the NESCent NESCent’s visibility within the broader evolutionary science community Ambassador Program and the NESCent Academy, as well as cross- continues to grow. In 2011, we had more than 77,000 visitors from 176 center meetings for postdoctoral fellows and for cyberinfrastructure). countries to our website (up from 66,000 visitors from 54 countries last The NESCent Oversight Committee met for the first time, bringing year). Also, in 2011, more than 65 news articles on NESCent science together senior administrators from the partner institutions. The focus appeared in the mainstream media, including Science Magazine, at that meeting – and indeed, at NESCent for most of this year – was NPR, Scientific American, Discovery Channel, Wired, The New York NESCent’s future after NSF funding ceases in 2014. Of relevance Times, and TIME Magazine (up from 40 news articles for last year). In to these discussions is the fact that NESCent continues to enjoy September 2011, NESCent also launched its new website. the evolutionary science community’s endorsement. Likewise, the partner institutions recognize that sustaining NESCent is important. This year, NESCent submits a proposal to host the 2014 Joint Annual For its part, NESCent has stepped up its engagement with the partner Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society for institutions, capitalizing on the skills and collaborative networks of Systematic Biology, and the American Society of Naturalists (Evolution faculty at these institutions. In an effort to develop a strategy for 2014). The plan is to hold the meeting at the Raleigh Convention sustainability, NESCent is developing a business plan for review in Center in June 2014. NESCent is working with an organizing committee the first quarter of 2012 by the Oversight Committee. drawn from faculty at Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, NCSU, UNC-Greensboro, and East Carolina University. If NESCent’s proposal This year saw a few staff changes, with Phillip Grosshans joining is accepted, it will provide an opportunity to celebrate 10 years of NESCent as our new Assistant Director for Administration. Todd synthetic evolutionary science, and acknowledge the support that the Vision began his sabbatical in the second half of 2011, and Joel evolutionary science community has given to the Center. Kingsolver presently acts as the Associate Director of Informatics. Other staff losses, particularly in IT, have been challenging, and we expect that this situation will not improve as we head towards 2014.
Transforming evolutionary science...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 5 science & synthesis Removing barriers
NESCent’s Science program in Year 7 expanded, particularly with pursuing a range of research projects. An additional four proposals the addition of targeted activities: are now being considered. to accessing, Working Groups and Catalysis Targeted Research Areas. Four targeted Meetings. We received 10 Working initiatives are currently underway to jumpstart Group proposals and 17 Catalysis new areas of evolutionary synthesis: Meeting proposals in 2011. Of these, Astrobiology, Evolutionary Medicine, Evolution sharing, and 9 Catalysis Meetings and 5 Working and the Social Sciences, and K-12 Evolution Groups were approved by the board. Education for Underrepresented Minorities. Our open call for development of evolutionary Long‐term sabbaticals. We received interpreting data medicine curricula drew 5 proposals, two of 14 requests for year‐long sabbaticals which were supported. Our targeted initiative at the Center this year, double the on Evolution and the Social Sciences also drew number from last year. Three scholars 5 proposals, currently under consideration. are already in residence and 1 more was awarded in the current round. NESCent has hosted nearly 4200 visitors from Postdoctoral Symposium. On April 17- more than 51 countries 20, NESCent held the first annual Joint Postdoctoral Fellowships. We received Synthesis Center Postdoctoral Symposium for 27 applications for Postdoctoral postdoctoral fellows from many of the synthesis Fellowships; 8 were awarded and 6 were accepted. These scholars centers. The three-day symposium included a combination of brief join the current set of Postdoctoral Fellows for a total of 15 — our research presentations by the postdocs, professional development largest group of Postdoctoral Fellows so far. activities, and breakout sessions on topics chosen by the fellows. Graduate Fellowships. Growth of our Graduate Fellowship program Postdoctoral fellows were attracted from a broad assortment of continues this year; we currently have three Graduate Fellows centers and disciplinary backgrounds (9 centers and 31 fellows). INFORMATICS
NESCent’s Informatics activities are driven both by the informatics Stepped-up human capacity building. As part of the NESCent needs of visiting and resident scientists, and by our commitment to Academy, NESCent sponsored four short courses in evolutionary remove common informatics-related barriers to synthetic research. informatics, on topics ranging from practical programming skills, Our major accomplishments for Year 7 include the following: to statistical data analysis, to distributing computationally-intensive jobs using cloud computing (for further details see the section Sponsored science informatics support infrastructure. NESCent on the NESCent Academy). NESCent organized ten summer held a workshop on “Cyberinfrastructure for Collaborative Science,” internship opportunities, eight of which were through the Google which brought together informatics personnel from seven synthesis Summer of Code program, and two of which were funded though centers, leaders of successful cyberinfrastructure projects, and the Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE). NESCent also social scientists investigating the socio-technical aspects of sponsored and co-organized the second annual iEvoBio conference cyberinfrastructure for scientific collaboration. After reviewing the on collaborative open-source software development in evolution suite of informatics technologies and services provided to sponsored and biodiversity, which was similarly successful as the inaugural scientists, the workshop participants identified several key areas for conference, and also featured new elements. consolidating existing work towards best-of-breed reusable solutions, including file sharing and collaborative curation of data matrices. In Year 8, our activities will emphasize the following areas: First, we will complement our informatics course program with Sharing, reusability, and interoperability of data. NESCent co- shorter, focused hands-on training activities that are responsive organized and held a hackathon on enhancing the tools available for to the informatics training needs of resident and visiting scholars. evolutionary analysis within the Generic Model Organism Database Second, we will subject user-interfaces of custom applications (GMOD). The Dryad data repository can now hand-shake with the under active development to review targeted at improving usability community resource TreeBASE. Dryad’s adoption has been steadily and user-experience. Third, we will continue to play a leading role increasing, as evidenced by the rate of new depositions as well as in the evolutionary science community in promoting standards the diversity of journals in which the corresponding articles were and infrastructure for online discovery, access, and reuse of published. The Joint Data Archiving Policy (JDAP) went into effect in data. Specifically, this will include improving the discoverability, January 2011. An NSF grant application was awarded on scaling up interoperability, documentation, and packaging of data compiled the methods and knowledgebase developed in the Phenoscape project under NESCent sponsorship. Fourth, we will develop a for integrating phenotype observations from different fields. NESCent comprehensive strategy for how the Center’s Informatics products personnel lead the assembly of a collaborative NSF grant proposal can best be sustained, or kept available, beyond the expiration of that aims to make archival and synthesis of published phylogenetic NSF support for the Center in 2014. knowledge significantly more scalable and rewarding to authors.
INFORMATICS | 7 education and outreach asSESSMENT
NESCent’s Year 7 Education and Outreach activities saw the evolution education for underrepresented minorities, and our NESCent’s Assessment program continues to mature. In 2011, n As measured by number of authors, departments, departmental introduction of a number of successful new initiatives, along with the after-school science project, Seeing and Learning Science After we developed a cohesive assessment program across our three types, etc., NESCent Postdoctoral Fellows are more collaborative. continuation of established programs and School (SALSA). divisions. This includes both developing an assessment strategy for n Working groups that incorporate a greater percentage of minorities partnerships. Over the last several years, our current 5-year cycle and identifying specific data and analyses Outreach to International Science and and emerging scientists are more productive. NESCent’s Education and Outreach to meet our assessment objectives. Results from NESCent’s self- Education Communities The cornerstone of efforts have been built on five pillars: assessment show that: n Since 2007, scientists have obtained more than $22,777,000 in these efforts is our recently launched NESCent additional grant support as a direct result of their involvement with Outreach to the Education Community Ambassador program, for which we received n Since the center’s inception the total number of visitors continues NESCent-supported programs. This includes established programs funding in the past year, and which will to grow with no signal of leveling or diminishing. Annually, ~54% such as the annual NABT Evolution continue to expand in the coming year. of participants in NESCent activities are new to the center and n NESCent has a high per paper citation rate, and a low percentage of Symposium and teacher workshops, represented 50 countries. uncited papers, compared to most universities. “Inreach” to the Science Community These and new programs such as the Darwin efforts have coalesced in the past year with n NESCent programs on average have 30% female representation n Day Roadshow project and NESCent’s In Year 7, NESCent’s h-index rose from 26 to 32 and our papers have the hiring of a Training Manager, and with both in terms of PIs and participants, which is higher than current Evolution Film Festival. garnered an additional 1,116 citations for a cumulative total of 4,711 Each year, NESCent celebrates Charles the establishment of the NESCent Academy NSF estimates of women with PhDs practicing in biology. (an average of 16.13 citations per item). Outreach to the General Public This Darwin’s birthday with a day-long outreach as an umbrella under which all short courses/ n NESCent publications covered approximately three times as many n includes our established Darwin event in partnership with the North Carolina workshops and training opportunities are NESCent publications have occurred 685 times on blogs registered subject categories as comparison groups. Day efforts, other sponsored talks Museum of Natural Sciences. housed. by Google, 246 times in CiteULike, 3,563 times in Mendeley, and 217 times in Regtranbase. and events for the public, and new n NESCent papers contain on average a greater number of authors and In the coming year, we will build on the five pillars of NESCent programs such as the Darwin Day Roadshow. affiliations than comparison groups. Education and Outreach by maintaining our collection of existing Outreach to Underrepresented Minorities This includes our annual piloting, developing and exploring new opportunities. SACNAS activities, several different travel award/scholarship programs, and new programs such as our targeted initiative in K-12 NESCent publications have occured 685 times on blogs registered by Google, 246 tyimes in CiteULike, 3,563 times in Mendeley, and 217 times in Regtranbase.
ASSESSMENT | 9 highlights
As in previous years, there has been no shortage of innovative and the working group on “Analysis and Synthesis of Physiologic Data NESCent Evolution Film Festival NESCent introduced a fun and wildly (Galaxy, ITK, Google Refine), social scientists investigating the socio- exciting work at NESCent. Here are just a few highlights from our from the Mammalian Feeding Apparatus,” with the goal of enabling successful program this year by launching a film festival/video contest technical aspects of developing sustainable and widely adopted Science, Informatics and Education/Outreach portfolios, illustrating the comparative analysis of data on craniofacial and neuromuscular motor at the Evolution 2011 conference in Oklahoma City, OK. Scientists cyberinfrastructure for scientific collaboration, and domain scientists breadth of activity at the Center: function across mammalian species. In Year 7, we developed this and filmmakers around the world were encouraged to describe an with integrative research agendas in the evolutionary, ecological, application into a fully functional prototype (see http://feedexp.org) Integrating Multiple Datasets and Developing New Analytical Tools interesting aspect of evolution (their own research or anything else and biodiversity sciences. The workshop resulted in a number of that working group PIs demonstrated at a dedicated symposium at to Uncover Phenotypic Correlations Across the Whole Organism of interest) in a three-minute video. Nearly 20 videos were submitted tangible as well as intangible outcomes. These include establishing the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative NESCent postdoctoral fellow Juan Santos published a paper in the and 13 were screened during the festival. The capacity crowd voted venues for coordinating, discussing, and documenting collaborative Biology (SICB). This prototype was subsequently the subject of the March 29, 2011 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National on their favorites and the winners were announced at the conference’s science support technologies across centers, as well as identifying the lead publication in an invited special issue of the society’s journal Academy of Science titled “Phenotypic integration emerges from final banquet. All of the video entries are now housed on the NESCent features of successful cyberinfrastructure projects and the critical roles (ICB). An NSF ABI proposal submitted by the PIs in 2010 has now aposematism and scale in poison frogs.” website, where they serve as tremendous evolution education synthesis centers can play to foster and promote these projects. been funded. The new grant will support the Santos was able to integrate structural resources for K-12 and undergraduate development of this database into a community Evolutionary Tools in GMOD Hackathon and equation models with phylogenetic students, and the general public. Based, in resource that preserves decades of experimental Chado Natural Diversity Module NESCent correlations to gain insights into how part, on multiple requests from throughout data on the physiology and functional morphology sponsored and held a hackathon in late phenotypic traits in poison frogs are the evolution community, this program of feeding in mammals, and makes them 2010 aimed at addressing critical gaps correlated. The paper reports that the will be continued at future Evolution available for future comparative analysis. The in the Generic Model Organism Database most boldly-colored and bad-tasting conferences. For more about the film proposed work also harnesses the Center’s (GMOD) suite of tools that limit its utility frogs are also the most physically fit. This festival, please see http://filmfestival. expertise and cyberinfrastructure initiatives for evolutionary research, specifically reflects that poisonous frogs spend a nescent.org. to link these physiologic data to appropriate in the areas of viewing comparative considerable amount of time foraging for anatomy, phenotype, and physiologic function Cyberinfrastructure for Collaborative Science genomics data, phylogenomic analysis and toxin-containing food needed for poison. ontologies. These accomplishments exemplify the Workshop The heterogeneous, multi- visualization, and supporting population- Futurity, Live Science, MSNBC, Wired, progression from working group support product disciplinary research collaborations facilitated level genetic and phenotypic diversity data. and Animal Planet covered Juan’s paper. In 2011, NESCent took Darwin Day on the by science centers in general and synthesis Dendrobates leucomelas, a poisonous frog Among many other significant results, the road, traveling to multiple locations around to science-driven enhanced community resource from Venezuelan Guiana, has higher aerobic Repurposing Legacy Data to Address the country to share our scientists’ expertise that the Center’s informatics efforts and diverse centers in particular often rely heavily on capacity than its nontoxic relatives. event provided an opportunity for several Outstanding Questions on Life History and enthusiasm for the study of evolution. expertise can enable. informatics to succeed. Even though each Photo courtesy of Cesar Barrio-Amoros disparate development efforts to reconcile Strategies NESCent postdoctoral fellow center is unique with respect to its audience, (www.andigena.org) their requirements and data models for The Darwin Day Roadshow This highly successful Josh Auld published a paper in the Jan mission, and resources, the centers invariably phenotype annotations and phenotype program sent seven NESCent scientists to K-12 12, 2011 issue of Oikos titled “Life history of breeding partners alters encounter similar technical and sociological diversity experiments. Building on the schools, museums and community centers in small, rural communities age-related changes of reproductive traits in a natural population challenges in supporting these informatics needs. Yet, the informatics natural diversity schema developed years earlier at NESCent in in four states (Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Virginia). The goal was to of blue tits.” Analyzing lifetime data for nearly 600 female and 600 personnel at the various centers have so far worked on solving these collaboration with former sabbatical scholar W. Owen McMillan, deliver Darwin Day presentations to audiences who would not otherwise male blue tits collected from 1979 to 2007, Auld found that how fast challenges mostly in isolation, and often disconnected from the the group, whose members came from fields as different as animal have exposure to evolutionary science and scientists. This not only a female’s fertility fades with age depends partly on her partners. accumulating body of relevant social science research. To provide an breeding, clade-based model databases, and morphological benefited students and other members of the communities that we Specifically, he found that fertility declines less quickly for females opportunity to exchange knowledge and to identify targets for better systematics, converged on a common schema extension to Chado, visited, but provided powerful professional development opportunities whose mates become first-time fathers young, potentially because coordination among centers, NESCent, with funding from the NSF, GMOD’s central relational schema. The extension, the Natural for the NESCent scientists, who described the experience as “life these males are healthier or more experienced. MSNBC and USA co-organized and held a 2.5-day workshop that brought together Diversity module, is now an official part of Chado, and has been changing.” This program will continue in 2012 with additional scientists Today covered Josh’s paper. informatics personnel from seven synthesis centers (NESCent, submitted for publication to a special GMOD issue in the journal visiting new states around the country. More information about the NCEAS, BioSynC, NIMBioS, ACEAS, SeSynC, iPlant), leaders of Database. Members of the hackathon group have since proceeded Mammalian Feeding Experiments End-user Database (FEED) We Darwin Day Roadshow can be found at roadshow.nescent.org. successful academic and private-sector cyberinfrastructure projects to develop visualizations and other tools on top of the module. had previously created a proof-of-concept application (FEED) for
HIGHLIGHTS | 11 1. Center-wide Initiatives This year, staff at the Center focused on the development of strategies at Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for sustainability beyond 2014, when funding from the National and North Carolina State University. The series includes a seminar Science Foundation ceases. These discussions have included our and a reception hosted by NESCent. The first of these was held on newly formed Oversight Committee, our Advisory Board, the major Sep 7, 2010, and featured Mark Stoneking (Max Planck Institute societies representing the evolutionary science community, and for Evolutionary Anthropology) at Duke University, Rick Ree (Field members of the academic community and senior administrators at Museum of Natural History) at NCSU, and Maria Orive (Kansas our partner institutions. University) at UNC-Chapel Hill. The goal is to have two sets of seminars a year, in the Spring and Fall semesters. 2011 Activities On a related note, the NSF Site Visit in May 2011 by Dr. Judy Verbeke (Acting Division Director, Biological Infrastructure) and Dr. Saran 1.1.1 oversight Committee Twombly (NESCent’s Cognizant Program Officer at the time), met with With the new round of funding, an Oversight Committee was the Oversight Committee and the NESCent directors, and encouraged constituted comprising senior academic administrators at Duke NESCent to consider developing pilot sponsored programs that University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North involve PIs from the partner institutions, with a view to sustained Carolina State University, as well as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the engagement beyond 2014. As a consequence, NESCent has been Advisory Board. The Oversight Committee provides NSF with an working actively on the following projects: evaluation of the performance of the NESCent directors, and also n With Steve Walsh (Director of the Galapagos Research Center, UNC- assists the Center’s leaders in formulating strategy, particularly as Chapel Hill) to develop a NESCent Ambassador outreach program to this relates to the long-term goals and direction of the Center. The educate guides and local scientists on evolutionary science members of the Committee are: n With Brian Langerhans (Biology Department, NCSU), to develop an n Dr. Chris Brown - (Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Ambassador program in Barbados. Development, North Carolina State University) n With Phil Morgan (Director of the Social Science Research Institute, n Dr. Robert Calderbank -(Dean of Natural Sciences, Duke University) Duke University) and Jim Moody (Director of the Duke Network Analysis Center, Duke University) to develop a catalysis meeting n Dr. Joseph Graves, Jr. -(Associate Dean for Research, Joint School of Nanotechnology and Nanoengineering, NCATSU & UNC- on the evolution of social networks, as part of our targeted activity Greensboro, and Chair of the NESCent Advisory Board) focusing on evolution and the social sciences. n With primatologists, evolutionary anthropologists, and the Duke n Dr. Maria Orive - (Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas University, and Vice-Chair of the Lemur Center, to explore the potential for collaborations between NESCent Advisory Board) mathematicians, information scientists, and biologists in behavioral and life-history analyses. n Dr. Jim Siedow - (Vice Provost for Research, Duke University) n Dr. Carol Tresolini - (Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives, 1.1.3 sustainability University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Our efforts towards sustainability continue to focus on two related The Oversight Committee met with the NESCent directors, activities: management team, operations committee and resident scientists n Fact-finding and communication with stakeholders on Feb 1 – 2, 2010. The Committee’s report to the NSF on Mar 15, 2010, reflects their general approval of the Center’s operations and its n Development of a business plan leaders. We discuss each of these in turn. One area of discussion that emerged in the context of NESCent’s long-term future related to NESCent’s engagement with its partner Fact-finding and communication with stakeholders institutions. As noted by the Oversight Committee, a strong potential In addition to meeting with the Oversight Committee, NESCent’s for continued Center support rests with these institutions. The director Allen Rodrigo has met with senior members at Duke Oversight Committee observed that NESCent’s visibility at the University including Provost Peter Lange of Duke University, and partner institutions could be improved. In this regard, the Oversight Dean Al Crumbliss, of Arts and Sciences, to discuss opportunities Committee urged NESCent to explore ways to increase the relevance to secure financial support after 2014. As a consequence of these of the Center to faculty who may benefit from the Center’s activities. discussions, NESCent has started working with Duke University’s The next section describes some of our efforts in this regard. Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations. We are pleased that the Oversight Committee has become an At the Evolution 2011 meeting in Norman, Oklahoma, Rodrigo also important part of NESCent’s advisory panel. Members of the briefed the Joint Councils of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Oversight Committee are senior administrators with full schedules, Society for Systematic Biology and the American Society of Naturalists but they have unfailingly made themselves available to the Center on NESCent’s efforts for sustainability. We were also told of the and its leaders. results of the survey conducted by the Joint Councils on the future of evolution research. We are pleased that a majority of respondents Partner Institutions (60%) believed unequivocally that there is value in continuing to Following recommendations to engage with our partner institutions, fund an evolutionary synthesis center (only 9% responded with an NESCent has instituted a Distinguished Speakers Seminar Series unequivocal “No”). This is even more pleasing when we consider
CENTER-WIDE INITIATIVES | 13 the demographics of the respondents: 40% were students or In 2010, NESCent initiated two themed activities on evolutionary and professional development program for our postdoctoral fellows. n Feb., 2011 – NESCent’s Communicating Human Evolution working postdoctoral scholars. Additionally, whereas most respondents (84%) medicine, and astrobiology and synthetic biology. As part of these Each entering postdoctoral fellow meets with a mentoring committee group organized a symposium on human evolution at the AAAS unsurprisingly ranked individual grant support as the highest funding activities, in 2011, we sponsored two working groups focusing on the to discuss the postdoctoral fellow’s research plans, NESCent annual meeting in Washington, DC, and a workshop for journalists priority, more than 74% of respondents believed that the NSF should development of the curriculum for pre-medical and medical students, expectations, local and other resources; and the development of a on communicating human evolution at the Smithsonian Institution. allocate 30% or more of its resources to large program awards integrating evolutionary principles. We are also hosting a NESCent written mentoring plan for each postdoctoral fellow. n April 2011 – NESCent put out a call for proposals to support a including centers and networks. catalysis meeting on Astrobiology, Synthetic Biology, and Evolution In addition, we run a postdoctoral professional development program Working Group focusing on the development and implementation from Oct 11 – 13, 2011. In addition to these, NESCent has also that, this year, included: of model curricula and curriculum materials in Evolutionary Development of a business plan launched two new themed activities in 2011: Medicine to support teaching of undergraduates, and students in n A three-day NESCent Postdoctoral Retreat. This is the second year At the September meeting of the Advisory Board, we devoted time n Evolution education for K-12 underrepresented minorities medicine, nursing, public health and medical research. We received we have run this retreat. It included two half-day workshop on to developing the outline of NESCent’s business plan. This was done five proposals and supported two: “Infusing Medical Education n Evolution and the social sciences “Effective College Teaching,” targeted sessions on “The Publishing in three parts. First, since any discussion of sustainability requires with Evolutionary Thinking” and “The Perils of Being Bipedal: an Process,” “Initiating and Maintaining Collaborations,” “Alternative that we understand what we are trying to sustain, we sought to The first deadline for proposals was Sep 1, 2011, and there will be a Evolutionary Perspective on Human Musculoskeletal Disorders” Careers to Academia,” “Balancing Your Personal Life and Career at identify NESCent’s core values and commitments. The aim here second deadline in Jan 1, 2012. was to identify the essence of NESCent as an organization — i.e., a Research 1 University”, “Dealing with Co-Authorship Issues,” and n Summer, 2011 – Building on the Oct., 2010 EvoMed “mini-camp,” its “bottom-line.” Second, we laid out our value proposition. In NEScent is also submitting a proposal to host Evolution 2014, the “Surviving Your First Year as a Faculty Member,” as well as multiple NESCent co-sponsored a two week, Continuing Medical Education particular, we sought to systematically identify the products, services, annual joint meeting of the Societies for the Study of Evolution, structured sessions to discuss research. workshop on evolutionary biology for medical practitioners and Systematic Biology, and the American Society of Naturalists. Since clinicians, held on Mt. Desert Island, ME. and resources that NESCent provides or can provide. Finally, we n A Postdoctoral Professional Development Seminar Series throughout 2014 is NESCent’s last year of new funding, hosting this important attempted to identify future stakeholders and funders who are likely the year, including recent sessions on “Mentoring Undergraduates”, n June 3-5, 2011 - With the University of California, San Francisco meeting is a fitting way to thank the evolutionary science community to attach value to these outputs. “The Journal Process: From Submission to Print”, “Data Center for Evolution and Cancer, NESCent sponsored a three-day for their support, and also to celebrate the science that NESCent has Management Plans”, “Alternate Careers in Science”, and “The symposium convening over 40 researchers in areas ranging from A draft of the business plan will be developed in time for the next been a part of. Oversight Committee meeting next spring. This will serve as a Faculty Search/Hiring Process”. social science, genomics, epidemiology, and cellular processes on Finally, at the end of 2011, we expect to roll out our new website, Evolution and Cancer. platform for our fund-raising efforts in 2012 and beyond. In parallel n On April 17th-20th 2011, NESCent hosted the first annual Joint which we believe will capture the vibrancy of NESCent’s programs. with our business plan, NESCent is also developing a prospectus to Synthesis Center Postdoctoral Symposium for postdoctoral fellows n Dr. Lynn Rothschild, of the NASA Ames Research Center, is assist with our fund-raising efforts. from many of the synthesis centers. The symposium lasted three collaborating with us on the Astrobiology, the Origins of Life and 1.2 2012 Plans days and included a combination of brief research presentations Synthetic Biology initiative. A catalysis meeting is planned for 1.1.4 new Initiatives at the Center NESCent will continue its focus on sustainability through 2012, and by the postdocs, professional development activities, and breakout October 2011 that includes 40 participants including international sessions on topics chosen by the fellows. A total of 31 postdoctoral participants from Japan, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. This year, many of the new initiatives that were in development in work with Duke University’s Office of Corporate and Foundation fellows from 9 synthesis centers (ACEAS, BEACON, BioSynC, 2010 have come to fruition. In the following sections of this report, we Relations to identify potential sources of support. We will also We have identified two new targeted initiatives and have advertised CEES, iPlant, NCEAS, NEON, NESCent, NIMBioS) attended. Topics describe these in greater detail. These include: continue to keep our stakeholders informed of NESCent’s progress as calls for proposals for both “Evolution and the Social Sciences” and of the major sessions included media training from AAAS, NSF it seeks to secure long-term funding. “K-12 Evolution Education for Underrepresented Minorities.” n The NESCent Academy Grant Writing, and Defining Synthesis. Breakout sessions dealt n The Journalist-in-residence program Many of our new initiatives have been launched or piloted, e.g., with a variety of topics including research, e.g. “New methods in We have also initiated an intensive focus on understanding the n The Ambassador program the NESCent Academy, the Darwin Day Roadshow, and the biogeography”, outreach, e.g. “Thinking about broader impacts”, processes that ensure that Working Groups and Catalysis Meetings n The Darwin Day Roadshow Ambassador Program, and there may be opportunities to support and professional development, e.g. “Time management”. Our are successful in terms of imitation stimulating collaboration n The Evolution Video Competition these programs independently with awards from the NSF and other detailed assessment indicates the first postdoctoral symposium and producing synthesis. As a first step, we sent Craig McClain, n The Cross-Center Postdoc Symposium funding agencies, perhaps in collaboration with other institutions, was a success. Postdoctoral fellows were attracted from a broad Assistant Director of Science, to become a certified meeting n The Cross-Center Cyberinfrastructure Meeting organizations or centers. assortment of centers and disciplinary backgrounds. The overlaps facilitator. The value of this is two-fold. One is to provide on-site in research that occurred were balanced by multiple unique facilitation services to group PIs who request it. The second is to perspectives and therefore led to meaningful interactions among utilize this knowledge to develop a best practices document and the attendees. In several cases these interactions have already led provide organizational and management training to group leaders to to collaborations. The fellows also deemed the informal discussions, produce intended outcomes. 2. Science and Synthesis planned development sessions, and break-out sessions to be of interest and beneficial. A combination of these also led to significant 2.2 2012 Plans NESCent science includes a broad portfolio of scientific activities pending, having just been submitted. The complete list of NESCent and positive attitude shifts in the fellows in terms of synthesis, spanning a wide range of organisms, habitats, methods, and scientific projects funded in year 7 is given in the Appendices. outreach, and data. In year 8, we will bring to fruition the second round of targeted disciplines. Through support of postdoctoral fellows, long-term and initiatives, “Evolutionary Social Science” and “K-12 Evolution In the aggregate as of September 1st, NESCent supported 25 short-term visiting scholars, and teams of scientists we have supported Education for Underrepresented Minorities.” We also anticipate a scientific meetings in year 7 (21 Working Group meetings and 4 2.1.2 new Initiatives in 2011 the use of synthetic methods to tackle many important evolutionary lively continuation of Working Groups and Catalysis Meetings in year Catalysis meetings), involving 396 visitors. In addition we hosted problems in year 7. Our in-house community continues to serve as a To jumpstart new areas of evolutionary synthesis we introduced two 8. Thirteen groups are continuing from previous years, and we project 6 meetings and 105 visitors by a variety of groups involved in fertile environment for sustained research and allows diverse scientists targeted initiatives in 2010: Evolutionary Medicine and Astrobiology, another 7 groups will start in year 8, based on our most recent round evolutionary synthesis not supported by NESCent funds. A complete to identify common interests and stimulate new collaborations. and the Origins of Life and Synthetic Biology. To further these of award decisions. Our in-house community of scientists will be at list of meetings at NESCent in year 7 is given in Appendix F. initiatives we have conducted several activities in 2011: its largest ever, with 4-5 sabbatical scholars, 15 postdocs, and an exciting mix of short-term visitors and graduate student fellows. 2.1 2011 Activities 2.1.1 the NESCent In-house Community In year 7, NESCent’s Calls for Proposals attracted 73 proposals and Postdoctoral Development for Working Groups, Catalysis Meetings, Sabbaticals, Postdoctoral Fellowships, or Courses. Of these, 29 were supported (see We have maintained a vibrant and collegial community of in-house Appendices for summary). scientists. During year 7, the Center will have hosted 18 postdoctoral fellows, 7 sabbatical scholars, 2 Triangle research fellows, 10 short- We also attracted 17 applications for Short-term Visits and Graduate term visitors, 8 graduate students, and several visiting and resident Fellowships in year 7. Of these 17, 8 have been supported and 8 are scientists. We have also continually worked to improve the mentoring
SCIENCE AND SYNTHESIS | 15 3. Informatics NESCent’s Informatics activities continue to be driven by serving the initiatives aimed at promoting emerging standards and enhancing interest in the Minimum Information for a Phylogenetic Analysis 3.1.5 informatics Training Internships informatics needs of visiting and resident scientists, and by removing community resources. The Dryad Digital Data Repository (http:// (MIAPA) reporting standard and related research into use-cases for common informatics-related barriers to synthetic research. Our datadryad.org), funded by NSF for its startup phase, went through a and barriers to reuse of phylogenetic analysis results. At the TDWG The NESCent-cosponsored Computational Phyloinformatics course activities combine software development, community coordination, series of quarterly releases that introduced numerous improvements, Conference in fall 2011, a follow-up workshop, co-organized by Lapp, (held annually since 2007; see Section 4.1.5) was held this year institutional leadership, and human capacity building. In keeping notably bi-directional hand-shaking with TreeBASE for phylogenetic will take place with the goal to converge on requirements for a MIAPA in Japan, with a module on using the emerging PhyloWS standard with our goals, our accomplishments in the past year focused on (1) data, and supporting privileged pre-publication access to deposited standard from the perspective of biodiversity science applications. for programmatic access to online data resources added to the updating the suite of informatics tools and services we provide to the data for manuscript reviewers. Dryad’s adoption has been steadily curriculum. PhyloWS is a product of the Evolutionary Informatics The Board of Directors of the Phyloinformatics Research Foundation, Center’s scientists, in a way that harnesses cross-center opportunities increasing, as evidenced by the rate of new depositions as well as working group, and of the EvoIO interoperability initiative (http://evoio. a recently established not-for-profit to provide governance and for knowledge sharing; (2) providing leadership to the community by the diversity of journals in which the corresponding articles were org) that formed from it. The Center also hosted a half-day tutorial strategic oversight to the community resources Tree of Life Web on sharing, reusability, and interoperability of data; and (3) stepping published. People external to the project have started to exercise on using Google Refine, a powerful tool for cleaning up tabular data Project (http://tolweb.org) and TreeBASE (http://treebase.org), had its up human capacity building in tackling informatics challenges Dryad’s programming interface (API), including creating an R culled from heterogeneous sources. first meeting in December 2010 at NESCent. Its next meeting will also commonly encountered by evolutionary scientists. Our Year 8 focus package for data access. The Joint Data Archiving Policy (JDAP) take place at NESCent, in late fall 2011. The Board includes NESCent For the 5th year in a row, NESCent served as a mentoring for Informatics will follow in the footsteps of previous years, with a was put in effect in January 2011 by seven leading journals in Informatics staff Karen Cranston. Lapp is PI on a collaborative NSF organization in the Google Summer of Code. With financial support particular emphasis on the reusability and future sustainability of the evolutionary biology. Through the Dryad-UK collaboration, funded by ABI proposal submission that aims to make archival and synthesis from Google, eight students worked remotely with mentors over the Center’s software and data products. the UK Joint Information Science Committee (JISC), there is now a of published phylogenetic knowledge significantly more scalable summer on open-source, collaborative software development projects UK mirror of the Dryad repository at the British Library (BL), which and rewarding to authors, and that would for the first time make (for details of each project see http://informatics.nescent.org/wiki/ reduces latency for European users of Dryad, and expands Dryad’s 3.1 2011 Activities TreeBASE and ToLWeb interoperable. Phyloinformatics_Summer_of_Code_2011). disciplinary as well as geographic reach. A newly submitted NSF grant application would, if funded, support scaling up the repository Additional internships in information science and informatics were 3.1.1 informatics infrastructure 3.1.4 Promoting open-source development sponsored through the NSF INTEROP Virtual Data Center project. for collaborative science to handle depositions at a rate at least an order of magnitude higher than present, and transitioning it to a self-sustaining and of reusable and standards-supporting tools NESCent-DataONE postdoctoral fellow Heather Piwowar and NESCent Informatics staff Lapp mentored graduate student summer NESCent held a 2.5-day workshop on “Cyberinfrastructure for independently governed entity. NESCent sponsored a hackathon on improving the GMOD suite of Collaborative Science,” described in more detail under Highlights interns on a project tracking the reuse of data sets deposited in select NESCent collaborates at several levels with the Data Observation tools to improve its utility for evolutionary research, described in more above. Based on the results of this workshop, we undertook a review data repositories, including TreeBASE, and on integrating data held Network for Earth (DataONE), an NSF OCI-funded virtual network of detail below. Recently departed postdoctoral fellow Liam Revell has of NESCent’s suite of informatics technologies and services provided by DataONE member repositories (such as Dryad) into the global web data repositories and registries in environmental science, ecology, made available the open-source R package phytools, which includes to sponsored scientists, and identified several needs currently of Linked Data, respectively (see https://notebooks.dataone.org/ for and evolution. Dryad, one of the designated three initial member comparative phylogenetic methods he developed while at NESCent. underserved, or ripe for consolidating existing custom and external open project notebooks for both projects). repositories, now natively supports the DataONE API required for The package is now available in CRAN, the central package tools to a best-of-breed solution that is also reusable across scientific member nodes. NESCent Informatics staff participate in DataONE’s repository for the R language. Revell is also a prolific contributor projects facing similar tasks. These areas include developing best- 3.2 2012 Plans Core Cyberinfrastructure Team (CCIT), which defines and executes to answering queries surrounding the application of comparative practice recommendations and supporting technologies for (1) the network’s cyberinfrastructure development plan, and in several phylogenetic methods on the community mailing list R-SIG-Phylo, In the coming year, we plan to focus special attention on four areas: efficient, scalable, and user-friendly file sharing; (2) collaboratively DataONE working groups. This includes in particular the Data which is one of the outcomes of the Comparative Methods in R creating and maintaining reference collections; and (3) collaborative (1) The Center’s resident scholars, in particular postdocs, often Integration and Semantics working group, which commenced in 2011 hackathon held by NESCent in December 2007. curation of comparative data matrices from the published literature. have very specific informatics training needs that arise from their and is charged with guiding the CCIT in semantic data discovery and Technology evaluations are currently underway for all three, and the The Center has established an organization umbrella account on the project-related research tasks, and that are not well served by integration requirements and technologies. results will be implemented in the coming year as well as coordinated Github source code repository (http://github.com/nescent). One of the the informatics courses already run within the NESCent Academy and shared with other synthesis centers. The Phenoscape project (http://phenoscape.org), aiming to make strengths of Github is in promoting micro-contributions by external course program. We will run short, focused hands-on training the semantics of natural language descriptions of evolutionary developers, due to the distributed nature of git, the underlying version activities designed specifically for NESCent resident scholars to 3.1.2 informatics products in support phenotypes fully computable using ontologies, completely revamped control system, and a number of features that support the social aspect teach informatics skills useful for furthering their research projects. of sponsored scientists the user-interfaces for its knowledgebase to implement the results of collaborative software development. We have committed to start all Commonly requested subjects include database design, and from several rounds of usability testing. A public release of a 2.0 future software projects in support of sponsored science on Github, scripting comparative analyses in R. In support of a working group we developed the Mammalian version, which will include a novel faceted browsing interface, is and existing ones are being consolidated under the umbrella account. Feeding End-user Database (FEED), (see Highlights above). In (2) The experiences shared across centers at the Cyberinfrastructure planned for the fall of 2011. The original NSF grant supporting the After NESCent helped kick off the highly successful inaugural another major informatics support project, we developed a tool for for Collaborative Science workshop (see above) confirmed that project expired in June 2011, but a new NSF ABI grant proposal Conference on Informatics for Phylogenetics, Evolution, and merging multiple authoritative taxonomy sources into a combined usability and user-experience are major factors in determining submitted in 2010 was awarded and commenced in July 2011. It will Biodiversity (iEvoBio) in 2010, the Center also sponsored and co- ontology with comprehensive annotations of synonyms in a joint the effectiveness of informatics tools developed for or deployed fund a 4-year project on scaling up the ontological data annotation, organized (H. Lapp) the second iEvoBio conference in 2011, with collaboration with the working group on “Evolutionary shifts in to scientists. To improve the effectiveness and adoption of our reasoning, and semantic similarity methods to the level necessary the same goal of promoting collaborative, open-source software and vertebrate visual ecology and visual system morphology” and the informatics products, we will subject the user-interfaces of products for expanding the scope from teleost fishes to all vertebrates. The standards development in the fields of evolution and biodiversity. The Phenoscape project (http://phenoscape.org). The working group under active development to usability and user-experience evaluation NSF-funded Phenotype Ontology Research Coordination Network meeting took place again in conjunction with the annual Evolution aims to compile from the literature a comprehensive data set on and improvement studies. This will happen across the board, (RCN), led by Paula Mabee, Andy Deans, Eva Huala, and Suzi Lewis Meetings, in Norman, Oklahoma. It had over 110 registrants. variation in visual system traits within the extant vertebrates. Using including externally funded products from our cyberinfrastructure had its first large meeting at NESCent, and a second more focused In addition to the program elements present in 2010, the 2011 the tool, we created a combined vertebrate taxonomy ontology initiatives such as Dryad and Phenoscape. one at Google in Boulder, CO. The latter provided an opportunity to conference featured a special session on Metagenomics, Barcoding, based on the Catalogue of Life (http://catalogueoflife.org) backbone preview Google’s developing platform for custom collaborative editing and Biodiversity. The session was co-sponsored by the NSF-funded (3) Finding and accessing relevant data online, and integrating such for the purpose of reconciling taxon names cited in the literature applications, such as for ontologies. RCN for the Genomics Standards Consortium (RCN4GSC) as part data so that they are useful to one’s research questions remains a that had meanwhile undergone various revisions. significant challenge to data sharing and reuse. We will continue NESCent Informatics staff Hilmar Lapp co-organized two workshops of its charge to bridge between biodiversity information standards, to play a leadership role for the evolutionary science community at the 2010 Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) Conference. such as Darwin Core, and genomics standards, such as the MIxS 3.1.3 Promoting the sharing, reusability, in promoting standards and infrastructure for online discovery, One of these, a 1-day hands-on working meeting of the Phylogenetic family of minimum reporting checklists for metagenomics sequencing and interoperability of data access, and reuse of interoperable data. Specifically, we will advance Standards Interest Group (http://www.tdwg.org/activities/ experiments. The conference was received with similarly enthusiastic and demonstrate best practices by improving the discoverability, NESCent continues to take a leadership role in removing barriers phylogenetics/), gave rise to an in-depth technical report on Best feedback as in the first year, despite higher registration costs and interoperability, documentation, and reuse-oriented packaging of data to online access, reuse, and interpretation of data, both through Practices for Publishing Trees, which is currently being turned into a significantly fewer registrants. compiled under NESCent sponsorship. externally funded initiatives as well as through Center-originated manuscript. The working meeting and report also spurred renewed
INFORMATICS | 17 (4) NESCent has created numerous online informatics products over source code. The needs and use-cases for keeping these resources nations, and Kenya, with return trips planned to the Galapagos its lifetime in support of the work its scientists, and will create more available beyond the lifetime of the Center differ widely, as do the and Bali, Indonesia. Each ambassadorship involves at least one until NSF support for the Center expires in 2014. These resources opportunities for and vested interests in sustaining them for the NESCent postdoc, in addition to senior NESCent scientists/education are highly heterogeneous in purpose and function that they provide, long term. We will develop a comprehensive strategy for how the staff. These ambassadorships not only increase our international ranging from tools that allow groups to collaborate more effectively, Informatics products of the Center can best be sustained, or kept presence and provide valuable scientific training and expertise to online databases referenced in journal publications, to software available, beyond the expiration of NSF support for the Center. around the world, but also serve as unique professional development opportunities for NESCent scientists.
4.1.5 “Inreach” to the Science Community NESCent made great strides to expand and formalize our “inreach” efforts to the evolutionary science and informatics communities by 4. Education and Outreach collecting all of the short courses and workshops we offer under the umbrella of the newly established NESCent Academy (academy. NESCent’s 2011 Education and Outreach activities reflect a n Organization and delivery of a one‐day Evolutionary Medicine “Mini‐ successful blending of established programs with several new Camp” for medical practitioners, followed by co-sponsorship a two‐ nescent.org), and hiring Dr. Karen Cranston to oversee this effort in initiatives. Both the new and existing activities fit within the framework week summer course for CME credit on evolutionary medicine at the her role as Training Coordinator and Bioinformatics Project Manager. of what have become the five pillars of NESCent Education/Outreach: Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Maine; This year, the NESCent Academy sponsored two new courses: One of our new minority outreach initiatives in 2011 is the after-school n n Outreach to the Education Community Acceptance of a manuscript (“Why Are Chimps Still Chimps?”) to science project, “Seeing and Learning Science After School” (SALSA). n Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics – Principle Instructors: Stevan appear in the Feb. 2012 issue of American Biology Teacher (special Arnold and Joe Felsenstein, plus four guest instructors; 25 students: n Outreach to the General Public issue on human evolution); We continued the NESCent MSI Faculty Travel Award program, which 10 from under-represented minorities, one international student. n Outreach to Underrepresented Minorities this year sent four faculty members from minority serving institutions n Preparation and submission of an NSF TUES grant to fund to the Evolution 2011 Conference in Norman, OK to present original n Next-generation Sequencing: Data Acquisition, Comparative n development of a Human Evolution instructional website Outreach to International Science and Education Communities research, and mentor diverse undergraduates. Genomics, Design and Analysis for Population Genetics, Systematics and Development – Principle Instructors: Brian O’Connor and Alexie n “Inreach” to the Science Community 4.1.2 outreach to the General Public Travel awards (maximum of $500) were given to 22 students from Papanicolaou, plus seven guest instructors; nearly 30 students from underrepresented minority groups to participate in short courses and diverse career stages, graduate student to faculty. 4.1 2011 Activities The highlight of our outreach efforts for the general public continued workshops offered by the NESCent Academy (see “Inreach” section). to be the annual Darwin Day event we cofounded and co-sponsor NESCent Academy also co-sponsored four courses: with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. This day- We issued a request for proposals for evolution education programs 4.1.1 outreach to the Education n Practical Computing for Biologists at North Carolina State University Community long event attracted several thousand visitors to the museum on focused on underrepresented minorities at the K-12 level and will be reviewing proposals and issuing awards in the very near future. Feb. 12th, 2011. NESCent hosted the keynote speaker (Dr. Lynn n Computational Phyloinformatics in Kyoto, Japan In partnership with AIBS, our annual Evolution Symposium was Rothschild of NASA-AMES), ran several interactive stations and We anticipate several innovative minority outreach projects will result organized as part of the National Association of Biology Teachers booths and organized an undergraduate/graduate research poster from this initiative. n Evolution and Medicine at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (NABT) annual conference. Entitled “Molecular Insights in Classic contest as part of the event. Dr. Weigang Qiu (Hunter College) spent much of 2011 in residence n AnthroTree Workshop at University of Massachusetts, Amherst Examples of Evolution” it featured four internationally known at NESCent as part of our Targeted MSI Sabbatical program. A researchers, and was once again accessible via live webcast. We NESCent also sponsored or co-sponsored several other evolution- We continued to organize and conduct a weekly seminar series for in‐ significant amount of his efforts were spent on evolution curriculum developed, produced and distributed a CD‐ROM of learning resources related talks for the general public, many in partnership with the NC house scientists and invited speakers from the local (NC Triangle) area. development projects that will directly benefit his students at Hunter, and offered a half‐day, hands‐on teacher workshop to complement Museum of Natural Sciences. One of the highlights was a public We also continued the “NESCent Director’s Seminar Series” to bring in consistently ranked as one of the most diverse urban undergraduate the symposium. lecture on April 11th by Rosemary and Peter Grant. In partnership more diverse speakers from outside the Triangle area to NESCent. with the museum and NC State Universities Keck Center for campuses in the United States. wwOther activities included: Behavioral Biology, NESCent sponsored their talk and a reception in Finally, we received a grant from the European Society of Evolutionary 4.2 2012 Plans their honor. n Our annual three‐day summer workshop for high school instructors Biology to translate our Evolution in the News stories and podcasts In the coming year, we will continue to offer the collection of (this year it was held in Madison, WI), as well as multiple other By far, one of our biggest and most exciting outreach events for the into Spanish, to dramatically increase the audience for these activities and education/outreach resources upon which our solid workshops, short talks and presentations for high school teachers general public was the 2011 NESCent Darwin Day Roadshow (see resources, and enhance their impact on underrepresented minority foundation is built. We anticipate that our relatively new programs, on effective strategies for teaching evolution. below for more information). student populations. The translation and dissemination of these such as the Darwin Day Roadshow and Evolution Film Festival will resources will occur throughout the coming year. n Our successful “Evolution in the News” feature and podcast series, receive even more interest and attention than they did during their in partnership with the Understanding Evolution website. 4.1.3 outreach to first years. Our NESCent Ambassador program will continue to Underrepresented Minorities 4.1.4 outreach to International Science expand, with ambassadorships to two new locations (the Caribbean n The first annual “NESCent Evolution Video Contest” held at the and Education Communities and Kenya). We are piloting a new program that will send our Evolution Societies meeting in Norman, OK. (See “Highlights” for We continued to organize and run a collection of evolution outreach scientists to after-school programs and community centers serving more information.) activities at the annual SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of NESCent dramatically increased our international outreach efforts in underrepresented minority students to lead hands-on activities Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) conference. the past year via the NESCent Ambassador program (ambassadors. n The Communicating Human Evolution working group led by nescent.org), which sends NESCent scientists and educators to exploring evolutionary science. We anticipate the initiation of several Norman Johnson, continued its efforts focusing on activities related We once again collaborated with Scott Edwards (Harvard) and Rich deliver short workshops and consulting in evolutionary science, projects growing out of our targeted initiative on K-12 evolution to science education and pedagogy, science journalism and citizen Kliman (Cedar Crest College) on the Undergraduate Diversity at informatics and education in developing nations. In April of this year, education for underrepresented minorities and the completion of science. Some of the successful activities from this working group Evolution program, which sends 25 undergraduates to the annual we received $264,515 in the form of an NSF EAGER grant to pilot project designed to translate Evolution in the News stories/podcasts over the past year include: Evolution (SSE/SSB/ASN) conference and provides them with this program for two years. into Spanish. In summary, we will continue to do what we do well, mentoring and professional development while there. and aggressively explore new partnerships and new ways to build n Organization and delivery of a symposium on Human Evolution at To date, we have already sent eight scientists to Ecuador/Galapagos, on the five pillars of NESCent Education and Outreach. the 2011 AAAS meeting in Washington, DC, and a related workshop Indonesia and Madagascar. In the coming months, several more for journalists on communicating human evolution, held the evening NESCent scientists and educators will be visiting multiple Caribbean prior at the Smithsonian;
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH | 19 5. Science Communications In keeping with NSF’s Broader Impact goal of disseminating results, attention, including our newly-launched evolution film festival, which We expect to host two additional journalists this fall: diseases with animal origins, such as West Nile virus and mad NESCent’s communications office acts as a liaison between the was featured in two articles in the UK Guardian, and our first-ever cow disease. His work has strong potential to help highlight the n Freelance journalist Michael Martin proposes to write an article Center and its many outside audiences. Activities include writing Darwin Day Roadshow, which was featured in The New York Times. intersection of evolution with other fields, particularly biosecurity and (which he hopes will form the beginnings of a book) about the news releases, managing our online presence through our website global public health. Greenberg has written for The New York Times, For a full list of NESCent media coverage in 2011 please see unusual life and work of evolutionary biologist Margie Profet, and social media, producing a quarterly newsletter, assisting National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Harper’s and GQ, Appendix H. whose controversial ideas about the evolution of asthma and scientists in responding to media requests, and providing media among others. He will join us for two months starting in November. menstruation earned her a MacArthur Foundation Genius grant in training and other communication-related workshops for scientists at 1993, but who mysteriously went missing in 2005. Martin’s project NESCent also sponsors a blog contest and conference travel NESCent as well as partner institutions. 5.1.2 nescent by the numbers fits in nicely with NESCent’s ongoing initiatives in evolutionary fellowship for evolutionary bloggers. To apply for the award, writers The audience for NESCent’s other communication channels medicine. Martin has written articles for Science, The Scientist, are required to submit a blog post that highlights current or emerging 5.1 2011 Activities continues to grow. Readers can learn about research and training Harvard Magazine, and United Press International. Martin will join evolutionary research. Winners receive $750 apiece to cover opportunities, new initiatives, and upcoming events by subscribing us for the month of October. travel and lodging expenses to attend ScienceOnline, a science to our quarterly newsletter. You can also visit NESCent on Twitter, communication conference held each January in North Carolina. 5.1.1 nescent in the news n Award-winning essayist and journalist Ilan Greenberg intends to Facebook, and YouTube. In the past year, these and other channels Previous winners include graduate students Danielle Lee, Neil Losin, interview experts for a series of articles about emerging infectious We continue to produce a regular stream of news in evolutionary saw the following increases in readership: Christie Wilcox and Jeremy Yoder. science for use by the media. In 2011 we wrote and distributed more n News articles: > 65 articles in mainstream outlets than a dozen news releases highlighting major results from NESCent- (up from 40 for last year) sponsored projects. Reporters receive these releases through an online news service sponsored by the American Association for the n Website: 77,000 visitors from 176 countries in the past year Press Coverage of NESCent Science and Activities for Year 7 Advancement of Science (AAAS). You can also follow these stories on (up from 66,000 visitors from 54 countries last year) our website at nescent.org/news/News_releases.php. n Newsletter: 3,200+ subscribers (up from 2,000 for last year) Postdoctoral fellows In the past year these news releases received more than 32,000 n Twitter: 1,175 followers (up from 430 for last year) page views by registered reporters and journalists, according to Josh Auld: traffic statistics provided by AAAS. This resulted in more than 65 Rafael Rubio de Casas: news articles in the mainstream media, including Science Magazine, 5.2 2012 Plans “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose “The future of a fog oasis” (Scientific American) NPR, Scientific American, Discovery Channel, Wired, The New York Looking ahead, one of our goals for the next year is to enhance our good mates” (Eurekalert) Times, and TIME Magazine. Collectively these outlets reach millions online presence. To that end we’ve been planning a new look for the “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose Juan Santos: of readers each month. Some of the most successful news stories of NESCent website, which was last redesigned in 2006. The current good mates” (Science 360, National Science Foundation) “Treadmill tests for poison frogs prove toxic species are the past year include: site receives roughly 30,000 page views a month, from visitors looking more physically fit” (Eurekalert) for everything from classroom resources to upcoming proposal “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose n “Primates are more resilient than other animals to environmental deadlines. With help from our longtime partners at the American good mates” (USA Today) “Poisonous lifestyle makes frogs more fit” (Wired Science) ups and downs” (December 1, 2010) What sets mankind’s closest Institute for Biological Sciences, the new design will allow us to relatives — monkeys, apes, and other primates — apart from “How male birds affect female fertility” (MSNBC) “Treadmill test reveals most poisonous frogs are best frog feature our proposal deadlines and award winners more prominently other animals? One answer is that primates are less susceptible to athletes” (Discovery Channel: Animal Planet) on the home page. The new site will also better showcase some of seasonal variability, particularly in rainfall, finds a new study. This Carlos Botero: NESCent’s new initiatives — such as the NESCent Academy and the “Athletic frogs: Go bold or go home” (Futurity) story was picked up by TIME Magazine. “Climate for divorce” (Science News) NESCent Ambassador Program — which did not exist at the time of “Froggy fitness: toxic species prove most athletic” (Li- n “To age is primate” (March 10, 2011) The first-ever comparison the last site design. See a preview of the new design at http://stage. veScience) of human aging patterns with those in chimps and other primates nescent.org/. The new site will be launched this fall. Clinton Francis: suggests the pace of human aging may not be so unique after “Poison frog athletes” (California Academy of Sciences) Another one of our goals for the next year is to support continued “Songbirds tweak their tunes in different ways to cope all, despite our relatively long life spans and access to modern “Poison dart frogs leap to the top for frog fitness” (MSNBC news coverage of evolution beyond the Center. Our efforts come at a with clamor” (Eurekalert) medicine. This story was picked up by more than 100 news outlets, News) time when newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media have been including Discovery News, US News & World Report, ABC News, “C’mon feel the noise: Related songbirds respond differently laying off science journalists at an alarming rate. To support continued MSNBC, Science Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, and NPR’s to noise pollution, possibly complicating conservation efforts” coverage of evolution and related fields, we have two programs: Stephen Smith: Science Friday. (Science Magazine) “Single parenthood doesn’t pay off for plants” (Eurekalert) n NESCent’s journalist-in-residence program offers a unique opportunity n “Treadmill tests for poison frogs prove toxic species are more “Songbirds tweak their tunes in different ways to cope with for reporters, producers, and editors to work on an ambitious, exciting physically fit” (March 29, 2011) The most toxic, brightly colored clamor” (Science 360 news highlights from NSF) project of their own choosing with an evolutionary focus. Fellowships Peter Unmack: members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, “Songbirds adapt to noisy environments” are open to salaried or freelance journalists in print, electronic or finds NESCent postdoc Juan Santos (see Highlights for more). This (US News and World Report) “Little Aussie Batter” (Good Weekend Magazine, Melbourne) broadcast media. Journalists of all nationalities are welcome to apply. story was picked up by Wired Science, Discovery Channel, and Proposals are considered twice a year, with deadlines on January 15 “When birds go to town” (Science News) MSNBC News. Gregor Yanega: and July 10. Our first journalist in residence was public radio reporter n “Songbirds tweak their tunes in different ways to cope with clamor” Molly Samuel from NPR member station KQED in San Francisco. Jenny McGuire: “Hummingbirds catch flying bugs with the help of fast--clos- (May 26, 2011) Some birds that live near noisy sites can alter their Samuel was on-site for two weeks in April 2011 to interview experts ing beaks” (Eurekalert) “Climate changes, and there goes the neighborhood” songs to deal with din. But closely related species with similar songs for a sixty-minute public radio documentary on island biogeography, (ScienceNews) may tweak their tunes in different ways, says a study by NESCent conservation, and climate change. Read more about her project at postdoc Clint Francis. This story was picked up by US News and californiasislands.com/about/. “Study offers warning about next potential mass extinction” World Report and Science Magazine. (USA Today) In addition to gaining news coverage for NESCent-sponsored science, “Earth’s sixth mass extinction: is it almost here?” we also organized several outreach events that received national media (National Science Foundation)
SCIENCE COMMUNICATIONS | 21 Press Coverage of NESCent Science and Activities for Year 7 Press Coverage of NESCent Science and Activities for Year 7 Visiting scholars Catalysis meetings and working groups Ryan Calsbeek Tal Pupko Lauren Buckley et al.: Karen Strier and Susan Alberts: Evolutionary “Of lizards, female choice and male competition” “New study pinpoints why some microbial genes are more Mechanistic distribution models: energetics, ecology of primate life histories (Science in the Triangle) promiscuous than others” (Eurekalert) fitness, and population dynamics “Primates are more resilient than other animals “Coping with climate change” (Eurekalert) to environmental ups and downs” (Eurekalert) Education and outreach group “Planet of the apes...and monkeys and humans” Alexei Drummond et al.: Software for Bayesian (TIME Magazine) Darwin Day Road Show NESCENT EVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL evolutionary analysis by sampling trees: “Primates better adapted to environmental changes” “A nationwide day for honoring Charles Darwin, but handled “Cold-blooded cannibals: extreme adaptations to island life” “Ancestry of polar bears traced to Ireland” (ScienceDaily) (Birmingham Star) with caution” (New York Times) (UK Guardian) “Primates best at coping with change” Norman Johnson et al.: “It’s cool, really, we promise” (GenomeWeb) “Crafty island plants use lizards to disperse their seeds” (St. Louis Globe–Democrat) (UK Guardian) Communicating the relevance of human evolution “Evolution: Only in America” (BioJobBlog) “Lovely weather for ducks and primates” (Futurity) “Panelists to discuss evolution of human brain size, skin color and diet at AAAS meeting” (Eurekalert) “Aging rates, gender gap in mortality similar across all primates” (Eurekalert) “Thinking big” (Science News) NESCent leadership and staff “Humans age at same rate as chimps, gorillas” “Eating meat drove the evolution of our big, powerful brain” (Discovery News) Joel Kingsolver (AAAS Meeting Coverage. National Association of Science Writers) “Humans age at same pace as other primates, study finds” “Evolution drives many plants and animals to be bigger, “Scientists take Charles Darwin on the road” (Miller-McCune) (US News & World Report) faster” (Eurekalert) “Human brain evolution and creatine gene expression” “Life under constant pressure” (Miller-McCune) (Scitable) “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (ABC News) “The mass extinction of scientists who study species” (Wired Magazine) “Just how big a deal is milk drinking?” (Scientific American) “What do you mean I’m aging like a baboon?!” (MSNBC News) Ken Kozak et al.: “Study finds primates age gracefully” Montane diversity in space and time: (National Science Foundation) linking evolutionary biology and macroecology “Science podcast” (Science Magazine) “Stable temperatures boost biodiversity in tropical mountains” “To age is primate” (Duke News) 6. Assessment (Eurekalert) “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (USA Today) NESCent’s assessment program seeks to evaluate whether we our current 5-year cycle and identifying specific data and analyses Jonathan Payne et al.: “Nonhuman primates and humans have similar aging are fulfilling our mission and core values. NESCent’s mission is to to meet our assessment objectives. Part of this maturation has been Phanerozoic body size trends in time and space: patterns, study shows” (Los Angeles Times) “promote the synthesis of information, concepts and knowledge to to develop and refine our three evaluative tiers. As a demonstration macroevolution and macroecology address significant, emerging, or novel questions in evolutionary of the progress NESCent has made in our assessment program, in “Despite long lives, humans age like other primates” science and its applications. NESCent achieves this by supporting April of this year we produced our first assessment report to NSF “Marine snails get a metabolism boost” (Eurekalert) (NPR’s Science Friday) research and education across disciplinary, institutional, geographic, providing 35 pages of detailed analyses that spanned our three tiers “Talk of the Nation: Despite long lives, humans age like and demographic boundaries.” Specifically, we apply a three-tier and all three divisions. Here, we highlight a few of these analyses to other primates” (NPR) evaluative system focused on people, products, and process. We demonstrate the breadth of our program. seek to determine whether: “Humans, primates age in similar ways” (CBS News) n Since the center’s inception the total number of visitors continues n “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (Seattle Times) People: NESCent supports research and education across to grow with no signal of leveling or diminishing. Annually, ~54% of disciplinary, institutional, geographic, and demographic boundaries. participants in NESCent activities are new to the center. “Humans, monkeys age the same way” (Futurity) n Products: NESCent scientists are addressing questions that are n Over years 1-7 of the center, participants have represented 50 “Time marches on for aging people in about the same way as significant, emerging, and/or novel in evolutionary science. countries from every inhabited continent. for our primate cousins, study finds” (News Radio Toronto) n Process: NESCent accomplishes (2) by promoting the synthesis of n NESCent programs on average have 30% female representation “When it comes to aging, we’re just like monkeys” information, concepts and knowledge both within and beyond direct both in terms of PIs and participants, which is higher than current (The Globe and Mail) Center activities. NSF estimates of women with PhDs practicing in biology. Also, in “Research insights: What it means to be human” all but one year, 2006, NESCent has offered a greater percentage (The Examiner) 6.1 year 7 Activities of postdoctoral fellowships to females than represented in our applicant pool.
6.1.1 ongoing Activities n NESCent publications covered approximately three times the NESCent’s assessment program continues to mature. In this last year subject categories than comparison groups. NESCent publications we have developed a cohesive assessment program across our three traverse a range of disciplines incorporating much more than just divisions. This includes both developing an assessment strategy for evolutionary biology.
ASSESSMENT | 23 n NESCent papers contain on average a greater number of authors (Drexel University), in developing a co-citation network of NESCent Countries of Participant Institutions and affiliations than comparison groups. publications. This will allow us to examine the disciplinary diversity of these publications and the extent to which they bridge different n As measured by number of authors, departments, departmental scientific domains. We are also maintaining our collaboration with types, etc., NESCent Postdoctoral Fellows are more collaborative. n Working groups that incorporate a greater percentage of minorities Gender of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 and emerging scientists are more productive Since our assessment report we have also finished constructing a list of grants resulting from NESCent activities. Since 2007, scientists have obtained more than $22,777,000 in additional grant support as a direct result of their involvement with NESCent supported programs, e.g. working groups, sabbaticals, postdoctoral fellows. This estimate does not include those grants, e.g. Dryad, Phenoscape, DataOne,
GMOD, obtained by our informatics group that have generated CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL considerable additional funds. Female 9 2 1 2 8 4 17 43 From our analyses this last year and described in the Assessment 19 8 4 3 12 5 31 82 Report, we learned that when compared with most universities, Male regardless of how we define the comparison group, NESCent has a Do not wish to provide 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 high citation per paper rate and a low percentage of uncited papers. We examined two sets of universities: 1) the top 40 universities TOTAL 28 13 5 5 20 9 48 128 in terms of R&D spending according to 2009 NSF data, and 2) a randomly-selected set of 120 colleges and universities. Funding Ethnicity of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 data was retrieved from the WebCASPAR database. In terms of publications per $100,000 of funding, NESCent ranked 7th-highest among Top-40 universities and 38th-highest among the randomly- selected schools with 2.12 publications per $100,000. When number of citations per $10,000 was analyzed, NESCent ranked 10th among Top-40 universities and 22nd among the randomly-selected schools with an average of 2.07 citations per $10,000. NESCent also had a low percent-uncited rate of 7.78%, which places the center 7th-
CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL Participants by country lowest among the Top 40 universities. ARGENTINA 3 ISRAEL 1 Hispanic or Latino 2 0 0 1 3 0 3 9 135 to 541 (1) 6.1.1.1 Tier 1 Assessment AUSTRALIA 17 ITALY 1 Not Hispanic or Latino 24 10 5 4 17 9 40 109 Over the last year we have accomplished the transition of much of 27 to 135 (2) 2 3 0 0 0 0 5 10 AUSTRIA 2 JAPAN 3 our Tier 1 assessment into an automated and replicable process. Do not wish to provide 16 to 27 (2) The majority of the data needed for assessment is collected with our TOTAL 28 13 5 5 20 9 48 128 BRAZIL 2 MEXICO 2 internal NESCent Administrative Database (NEAD) that serves as 7 to 16 (1) the backbone for all the Center’s evaluative activities. The strength BULGARIA 1 NETHERLANDS 4 of NEAD rests on data entry occurring from multiple users from Race of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 4 to 7 (3) center Directors and administrative staff to individual participants CANADA 29 NEW ZEALAND 4 in NESCent activities. Virtually every aspect of NESCent’s day-to- 3 to 4 (2) day operations, e.g. meeting registration, the proposal process, and CHINA 1 NORWAY 1 updating the website, require utilizing the web-based interface in 2 to 3 (5) NEAD. This ensures that we accurately collect a wide range of data CROATIA 1 ROMANIA 1 needed for assessment activities with an automated process. With 1 to 2 (14) an accurate database available, up-to-date and prompt assessment reports are available. CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL DENMARK 1 SOUTH AFRICA 1
Asian 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 5 FINLAND 2 SPAIN 1 6.1.1.2 Tier 2 Assessment Black/African American 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 For Tier 2 assessment in Year 7, we have focused on building FRANCE 5 SWEDEN 4 accurate records of publications and grants resulting from NESCent Do not wish to provide 2 5 0 0 1 0 6 14 activities. By establishing this record, we are now able to easily GERMANY 17 SWITZERLAND 7 Hispanic/Latino 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 produce up-to-date estimates of the number of publications and citations. In Year 7 we have so far produced 40 papers compared Native Hawaiian/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 HUNGARY 1 UNITED KINGDOM 55 to the 42 papers from last year at this time. NESCent’s h-index Other Pacific Islander rose from 26 to 32 and our papers have garnered an additional INDIA 2 UNITED STATES 541 White 24 8 5 3 16 8 39 103 1,116 citations for a cumulative total of 4,711 (an average of 16.13 citations per item). We continue to work with Chaomei Chen TOTAL 27 13 5 4 18 9 46 122 IRELAND 1 GRAND TOTAL 711
ASSESSMENT | 25 7.Administration
Disciplines of Supported Projects in Year 7 The primary focus of the past year’s activities within the n Mattison Ward, Systems Administrator, joined NESCent in July administration at NESCent have been to increase efficiency, by 2011, replacing Jon Auman, who left in May 2011. building better tools and processes and by increasing staff training n Peter Midford, Research Scientist, joined NESCent in June 2011 opportunities. after having previously served as a contractor to NESCent; he provides some support in replacing Kevin Clarke, Dryad Data 7.1 2011 Activities Repository Programmer, who left NESCent in April 2011. Todd Vision, Assoc. Dir. for Informatics, will be on sabbatical from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. During that time period, Hilmar Lapp Education and Outreach served as Acting Associate Director from July 1, 2011 to August n Maryam Mohaghegh, Staff Specialist, joined NESCent as a part-time 31, 2011, and Joel Kingsolver, former Assoc. Dir. for Science, will employee from May 2011 – Sept 2011. be Acting Associate Director for Informatics from September 1, 2011 through June 2012. Joel is a faculty member in the Biology 7.1.2. advisory Board Department at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tony Zera and Maureen Stanton left the NESCent Advisory Board The administrative team provided their meeting planning expertise after the February 2011 meeting. Fred Cohan, Troy Day, Maria Orive, in helping prepare the NESCent-led bid to host Evolution 2014, and Cheryl Wilga end their terms on 30 Nov 2011. We have since coordinating a cooperative bid from Duke University, East Carolina recruited Weigang Qiu, Mark Stoneking and Ana Rivero; they began University, North Carolina State University, the University of North their 3-year terms on 1 Jul 2011. Vicki Funk and Carlo Maley will Carolina at Greensboro and the University of North Carolina at begin their terms on 1 Dec 2011. Chapel Hill. The administrative team has developed a new Access driven 7.1.3 additional Space and Renovations database for use with logistics. The database has streamlined NESCent continues to grow, both in terms of its resident community meeting preparation and communication with participants. of scientists, and in terms of the number of programs it supports. The administrative staff is also in the process of finalizing a Consequently, there have been changes to NESCent’s physical space. Quickbooks-driven database for use in tracking programmatic These include: expenses. While Duke University’s SAP/R3 accounting system n Creation of a Visiting Scholar room to provide adequate space for provides financial tracking, it is incapable of tracking expenditures our Short-term Visitors, Graduate Student Fellows and Journalists- on a programmatic level, for instance, tracking the costs of each in-Residence. Jason Priem (U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on generating alt- In the upcoming year, we plan to collect data from 10-15 more individual meeting held at NESCent or the cost of other programs metrics for NESCent publications. Briefly, alt-metrics are alternative working groups, 5-10 more catalysis meetings, and 1 more such as the Darwin Day Roadshow. Once completed, this database n New cubicle furniture was installed in the Informatics Room and the measures to citations that quantify a paper’s impact. Alt-metrics hackathon. As a result, in the coming year, the “Science of Science” will provide a robust tool to manage and anticipate costs which will new Visiting Scholar Room of the main NESCent Erwin Mill building include such things as paper downloads, Twitter and Facebook links project will shift from data collection to data analysis. Hunter Jones allow far more accurate monitoring of our programs. to provide more privacy and better working conditions for staff. to a paper, and how many times the paper has been accessed or (Master of Environmental Management student in the Nicholas School Logistics staff attended the Meeting Planning International conference read in Zotero and Mendeley. Our preliminary analyses indicate that of the Environment) has been hired to continue the data collection held at Durham, NC, in September 2011. Research Administration 7.1.4 information of Outside Services NESCent publications have occurred 685 times on blogs registered where Chris Shields left off. In addition, we have posted a job opening staff attended the North Carolina Society for Research Administrators Agreements and Consultants by Google, 246 times in CiteULike, 3,563 times in Mendeley, and 217 for a Research Analyst to assist in the data analysis for the Science of meeting in Greensboro, NC in March, 2011. All staff are encouraged Consultants contracted during Year 7 were: times in Regtranbase. Science project as well as assessment activities as a whole. to take additional training that will increase efficiency and knowledge in support of NESCent programmatic activities. n AIBS for outreach at the NABT meeting and for development of new 6.1.1.3 Tier 3 Assessment 6.2 2012 Plans NESCent website;
For Tier 3 assessment in Year 7, we continue to work with Dr. In 2012, our assessment program is focusing on the sustainability 7.1.1 other Staff changes n @Mire for Dryad development; Jonathon Cummings (Associate Professor of Management, Fuqua of NESCent. We currently view our assessment program as having Administrative n Pegasus Info for Dryad planning and communication; School of Business, Duke University) on the “Science of Science” three main audiences including our current funders (NSF), future project. This project examines how NESCent influences researcher funders for sustainability of center, and internal scientists and staff for n Phillip Grosshans, Asst. Dir. for Research Administration, joined n Alpha Accounting for development of a shadow system to track engagement in synthetic evolutionary science through working formative use of results to improve NESCent. Thus our assessment NESCent in Jan. 2011, replacing Karen Henry who retired in Dec. expenditures by programmatic activities; groups, catalysis meetings, and informatics hackathons. For example, program should focus on function, productivity, and marketability. To 2010. Phillip was formally an Assistant Director at Duke University’s n Peter Midford for Phenoscape development and support of a participants are surveyed during and after their visits to NESCent, achieve this, we have formed an assessment task force composed Office of Research Support. NESCent working group; and with questions targeting the nature of interdisciplinary research, of the Directors, management team, and current assessment staff to n Lori Houjak joined NESCent as an Accounting Specialist in extent of collaboration, impact of NESCent participation, and coordinate our program to meet these three objectives. n Chris Mungall for Phenoscape development. December 2010 replacing, Julie McAlister. generation of new knowledge. Chris Shields (Program Coordinator In addition in Year 8, we plan to publish the results of our assessment for the “Science of Science” project) was very effective in collecting program in the peer-reviewed literature. We think that many of the Informatics survey data during his 2 years working at NESCent. He was able to lessons we learned will be valuable to others, and also that our collect surveys from 408 participants from 29 working groups, 246 n Dave Clements, GMOD Help-desk, left NESCent in December 2010; analyses will demonstrate the effectiveness of synthetic science. participants from 9 catalysis meetings, and 57 participants from 2 hiring for a replacement is progressing through UNC-Chapel Hill. NESCent is also collaborating with Chaomei Chen (Drexel U.) on a informatics hackathons. Though the number of participants may Science of Science and Innovation Policy proposal to measure the n Xianhua Liu, Web Development Project Manager, left NESCent in appear large, the unit of analysis is the working group, catalysis intellectual variations and impact caused by new publications from January 2011; hiring for a replacement is progressing through UNC- meeting, or informatics hackathon, thus the sample size is still NESCent and synthetic science. Chapel Hill. relatively small for statistical purposes (29, 9, and 2, respectively). Thus, by collecting survey data over time, there will be multiple observations from each unit, thus increasing the statistical power.
ADMINISTRATION | 27 7.2 2012 Plans NESCent staff have been informed about our plans for sustainability and the likelihood of various outcomes post-2014. Consequently, many 8. EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH: NESCent Grants and Proposals staff are evaluating their career options. Our goal is to offer opportunities for staff development that complement their existing skills so that they are better able to serve NESCent as it expands into new areas, as well Funded: NESCent–Duke University as enhancing their resumes for the future. One area that we see a need TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL for at NESCent is facilitation training. A large fraction of NESCent’s activities revolves around meetings and workshops. It makes sense to Show Me the Evolution! Assessing Allen Rodrigo NSFI 1/1/2009– 117,976 32,024 150,000 offer guidance on best practices associated with the development of Effectiveness of Kristin Jenkins 12/31/2011 meeting agendas, and with conducting the meetings themselves. This a New Teaching Resource year, Craig McClain, NESCent’s Assistant Director of Science, attended a facilitation certification course, and has expanded our best-practices EAGER: Allen Rodrigo NSF 5/1/20111– 239,276 25,239 264,515 guides to PIs. In 2012, we expect to send other key NESCent personnel NESCent Ambassador Program Jory Weintraub 4/30/2013 for training in facilitation. Evolutionary Analysis of the Histone Allen Rodrigo (on NIH 9/1/2011– 121,924 – 121,924 Deacetylase Family: Biomedical behalf of NIH 8/31/2013 Research Senior Fellow Joseph Graves)
Spanish-Language Translation of Allen Rodrigo European Society for 5/1/2011– 3,500 – 3,500 “Evolution in the News” Jory Weintraub Evolutionary Biology 4/30/2012
ABI Innovation: A Novel Database Hilmar Lapp NSF (Subaward 7/1/2011– 27,490 15,670 43,160 and Ontology for Evolutionary (Chris Wall) from Duke’s Dept. 6/30/2014 Analysis of Mammalian Feeding of Evolutionary Physiology Anthropology)
INTEROP: International Virtual Hilmar Lapp NSF (Subaward from 5/15/2008– 39,535 11,268 50,803 Data Center for the Biodiversity, (William Michener) Univ of New Mexico) 6/30/2012 Ecological and Environmental Sciences
ABI Development: Ontology-Enabled Hilmar Lapp NSF (Subaward from 7/1/2011– Included under 748,394 Reasoning Across Phenotypes from (Todd Vision) UNC-Chapel Hill) 6/30/2015 UNC Chapel Hill’s Evolution and Model Organisms prime award
Supplement: Supplement for Allen Rodrigo NSF 7/25/2011– 3,294 939 4,233 NSF-EU Workshop in Brussels 11/30/2011
A Digital Repository for Preservation Todd Vision NSF 9/1/2008- 1,900,625 279,551 2,180,176 and Sharing of Data Underlying 8/31/2012 Published Works in Evolutionary Biology
DataONE: Todd Vision NSF (Subaward from 8/1/2009– 111,182 31,686 142,868 Observation Network for Earth (William Michener) Univ of New Mexico) 12/31/2011
Helping Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Todd Vision Institute for Museum 1/1/2009– cost share only from Duke University Engineering (HIVE) & Library Science 6/30/2012
The iPlant Collaborative Todd Vision NSF (Subaward from 10/1/10– 13,850 3,948 17,798 Karen Cranston Univ of Arizona) 3/31/12
Supplement: Synthesizing Synthesis: Allen Rodrigo NSF 12/1/2011– 106,479 4,364 110,843 Bringing Synthesis Centers Closer 11/30/2012 and Integrating Activities NESCent is located in a historic textile mill in a vibrant university community at the edge of the Duke University campus.
TOTAL DUKE FUNDED 2,685,131 404,689 3,838,214
EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH | 29 8. EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH: NESCent Grants and Proposals 8. EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH: NESCent Grants and Proposals
Pending: NESCent–Duke Funded: NESCent–University of North Carolina (UNC) TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL ABI Development: Towards a Hilmar Lapp NSF 1/1/2012– 1,015,275 241,390 1,256,665 A Digital Repository for Jane Greenberg NSF (Subaward 9/1/2008– included under Duke 365,525 Comprehensive, Community-Owned 12/31/2014 Preservation and Sharing of (Todd Vision) from Duke Univ) 8/31/2012 Univ. prime award and Sustainable Repository of Data Underlying Published Reuseable Phylogenetic Knowledge Works in Evolutionary Biology Natural Trap Cave Revisited: Julie Meachen- NSF 6/1/2012– 249,941 113,687 363,628 Enhancement of the GBrowse Todd Vision NIH (Subaward from 9/1/2007– 281,718 77,480 359,198 Ancient DNA, Climate and Samuels 5/31/2014 Genome Annotation Browser (Ian Holmes) Univ of California- 8/31/2011 the Megafuanal Extinction Berkeley)
ABI Development: Dryad: Scalable Todd Vision NSF 9/1/2012– 2,027,103 376,533 2,403,636 Linking Evolution to Genomics Todd Vision NSF (Subaward from 6/1/2007– 853,338 197,607 1,050,945 and Sustainable Infrastructure for 8/31/2016 Using Phenotype Ontologies (Paula Mabee) Univ of South Dakota) 8/31/2011 the Publication of Data
ABI Development: Ontology-Enabled Todd Vision NSF (Subaward from 7/1/2011– 1,127,219 178,572 1,305,791 TOTAL DUKE PENDING 3,292,319 731,610 4,023,929 Reasoning Across Phenotypes from (Paula Mabee) Univ of South Dakota) 6/30/2015 Evolution and Model Organisms
The Hymenoptera Ontology: Tood Vision NSF (Subaward from 9/1/2010– 65,946 18,465 84,411 Part of a Transformation in (Andy Deans) North Carolina State 8/31/2011 Pending: NESCent–UNC Systemic and Genome Science University) TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL TOTAL UNC FUNDED 2,328,221 472,124 3,165,870 Enhancing the GMOD Suite Todd Vision NIH (Subaward from 3/1/2011– 425,000 119,000 544,000 of Genome Annotation and (Ian Holmes) Univ of California- 2/29/2016 Visualization Tools Berkeley)
ABI Development: Dryad: Scalable Jane Greenberg NSF (Subaward from 9/1/2012– Included within Duke 600,134 and Sustainable Infrastructure for (Todd Vision) Duke University) 8/31/2016 University’s prime Funded: NESCent–North Carolina State University (NCSU) the Publication of Data application
TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL TOTAL UNC PENDING 425,000 119,000 1,144,134 A Digital Repository for Kristin Antelman NSF (Subaward from 9/1/2008- included under Duke 134,686 Preservation and Sharing of (Todd Vision) Duke Univ) 8/31/2012 Univ. prime award Data Underlying Published Works in Evolutionary Biology Pending: NESCent–NCSU
Biological Collections Digitization: Brian Wiegmann NSF 4/21/10- 35,951 2,518 38,469 TITLE PI FUNDING AGENCY DATES DIRECT INDIRECT TOTAL Towards Capture and Mobilization of 4/20/11 Biodiversity Information Resources ABI Development: Dryad: Scalable Kristin Antelman NSF (Subaward from 9/1/2012– Included within Duke 18,827 and Sustainable Infrastructure for (Todd Vision) Duke University) 8/31/2016 University’s prime CCLI Phase II: Extendig and Brian Wiegmann NSF (Subaward from 9/1/2009- 22,810 5,930 28,740 the Publication of Data application Enhancing Understanding Evolution (Roy Caldwell) UC-Berkeley) 8/31/2012 for the Undergraduate Community TOTAL NCSU PENDING 18,827
TOTAL NCSU FUNDED 58,761 8,448 201,895
Total Funded 5,957,374
Total Pending 4,567,929
Total Funded and Pending 10,525,303
EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH | 29 For the full 2011 Annual Report and its Appendices, visit http://www.nescent.org/AnnualReport_and_Appendices_Yr7.pdf connect share transform
National Evolutionary Synthesis Center Annual Repo rt 2011 : a ppendices Table of Contents
A. Disciplines of Supported Projects in Year 7
B. Demographics of PI’s and Co-‐PI’s in Year 7
1. Gender
2. Ethnicity
3. Race
4. Nationality
C. Demographics of Participants in NESCent Activities in Year 7
1. Gender
2. Ethnicity
3. Race
4. Nationality
D. Countries of Participant Institutions
E. U.S. States of Participant Institutions
F. Detailed List of Activities and Participants in Year 7
G. Publications From NESCent Supported Projects in Year 7
H. Press on NESCent Supported Projects in Year 7
I. Active Projects in Year 7
J. Projects Supported In Year 7 Appendix A Disciplines of Supported Projects 12/1/10-‐8/31/11. Disciplines are reported by the Principle Investigator of the project. Projects may occur in more than one category. Appendix B Demographics of PI’s and Co-PI’s in Year 7
Appx B1: Gender of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 Appx B2: Ethnicity of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL CATEGORY CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL
Female 9 2 1 2 8 4 17 43 Hispanic or Latino 2 0 0 1 3 0 3 9
Male 19 8 4 3 12 5 31 82 Not Hispanic or Latino 24 10 5 4 17 9 40 109
Do not wish to provide 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 Do not wish to provide 2 3 0 0 0 0 5 10
TOTAL 28 13 5 5 20 9 48 128 TOTAL 28 13 5 5 20 9 48 128
Appx B3 Race of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11 Appx B4 Nationality of Project PI’s and Co-PI’s from 12/1/10–8/31/11
CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE GRADUATE FELLOW LONG-TERM SABBATICAL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SHORT-TERM VISITOR WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL
Asian 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 5 US Citizen 19 8 5 2 13 7 38 92
Black/African American 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Permanent Resident 2 0 0 1 1 2 3 9
Do not wish to provide 2 5 0 0 1 0 6 14 Non-US Citizen 7 2 0 2 6 0 7 24
Hispanic/Latino 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Do not wish to provide 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3
Native Hawaiian/ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL 28 13 5 5 20 9 48 128 Other Pacific Islander
White 24 8 5 3 16 8 39 103
TOTAL 27 13 5 4 18 9 46 122 Appendix C Demographics of Participants in NESCent Activities in Year 7
Appx C1: Gender of unique participants, irrespective of the number of visits Appx C2: Ethnicity of unique participants, irrespective of the number of visits to the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10–8/31/11 to the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10–8/31/11
CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL
Do not wish to provide 0 2 0 2 Do not wish to provide 17 4 13 94
Female 57 9 83 149 Hispanic or Latino 10 9 11 30
Male 128 18 144 290 Not Hispanic or Latino 159 16 202 377
(blank) 9 1 15 25 (blank) 8 1 16 25
TOTAL 194 30 242 466 TOTAL 194 30 242 466
Appx C3: Race of unique participants, irrespective of the number of visits to Appx C4: Nationality of unique participants, irrespective of the number of the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10–8/31/11 visits to the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10–8/31/11
CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL CATEGORY CATALYSIS MEETING COURSE WORKING GROUP GRAND TOTAL
Asian 9 3 7 19 Do not wish to provide 0 3 2 5
Black or African American 1 1 3 5 Non-US Citizen 67 13 51 131
Do not wish to provide 16 6 13 35 Permanent Resident 12 2 9 23
Hispanic or Latino 4 5 6 15 US Citizen 107 11 164 282
Native Hawaiian or other 0 1 1 2 (blank) 8 1 16 25 Pacific Islander TOTAL 194 30 242 466 White 156 13 196 365
(blank) 8 1 16 25
TOTAL 194 30 242 466 Appendix D Countries based on home institution) of unique participants, irrespective of the number of visits to the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10-8/31/11
Participants by country ARGENTINA 3 ISRAEL 1 135 to 541 (1) AUSTRALIA 17 ITALY 1 27 to 135 (2) AUSTRIA 2 JAPAN 3 16 to 27 (2) BRAZIL 2 MEXICO 2 7 to 16 (1) BULGARIA 1 NETHERLANDS 4 4 to 7 (3) CANADA 29 NEW ZEALAND 4 3 to 4 (2) CHINA 1 NORWAY 1 2 to 3 (5) CROATIA 1 ROMANIA 1 1 to 2 (14) DENMARK 1 SOUTH AFRICA 1
FINLAND 2 SPAIN 1
FRANCE 5 SWEDEN 4
GERMANY 17 SWITZERLAND 7
HUNGARY 1 UNITED KINGDOM 55
INDIA 2 UNITED STATES 541
IRELAND 1 GRAND TOTAL 711 Appendix E States based on home institution) of unique participants, irrespective of the number of visits to the center, in NESCent supported projects from 12/1/10-8/31/11
PARTICIPANTS BY STATE ARMED FORCES 3 INDIANA 14 new york 24 62 to 109 (2) alaskA 2 kANSAS 6 OHIO 9 19 to 62 (3) ALABAMA 3 kentucky 3 oklahoma 2 10 to 19 (12)
ARKANSAS 3 louisiana 3 OREGON 11 7 to 10 (4)
ARIZONA 12 massachusetts 20 pennsylvania 12 5 to 7 (6) 4 to 5 (4) california 74 maryland 10 rhode island 9 3 to 4 (6) colorado 12 MAINE 1 south carolina 4 1 to 3 (7)
connecticut 20 michigan 12 SOUTH DAKOTA 3
DC 7 minnesota 5 tennessee 15
delaware 1 missouri 6 texAS 12
FLORIDA 16 montana 1 utAH 1
GEORGIA 14 north carolina 120 vIRGINIA 12
HAWAII 4 nebraska 6 washington 9
IOWA 1 new hampshire 4 wisconsin 7
IDAHO 3 new jersey 7 wyoming 3
ILLINOIS 11 new mexico 4 total 541 Appendix F: Detailed List of Activities and Participants in Year 7
Catalysis Meetings
High-throughput biodiversity research using eukaryotic metagenetics URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=264 Dates: 1/24/2011 - 1/27/2011
PI Institution Holly Bik University of New Hampshire CoPI Institution W. Kelley Thomas University of New Hampshire Participants Institution Shawn Polson University of Delaware / NECC Anthony Chariton CSIRO, Australia Simon Creer Bangor University Jan Pawlowski University of Geneva Mitchell Sogin Marine Biological Lab, Woods Hole Franck Lejzerowicz University of Geneva W. Kelley Thomas University of New Hampshire Dorota Porazinska University of Florida Holly Bik University of New Hampshire Simon Berger Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS gGmbH) Robin Giblin Davis University of Florida Eric Allen Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego Tony Walters University of Colorado Way Sung University of New Hampshire Alexandros Stamatakis Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS gGmbH) Yijun Sun University of Florida Samantha Lewis University of California, Riverside Greg Caporaso University of Colorado Erik Pilgrim Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati Axayacatl Rocha-Olivares Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE) Mark Blaxter University of Edinburgh Mike Pfrender University of Notre Dame Erick Matsen Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Christopher Quince University of Glasgow Florent Angly the University of Queensland, Australia
Evolution of infectious diseases: integrating empirical and modelling approaches URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=224 Dates: 3/22/2011 - 3/25/2011
PI Institution Sarah Reece Institutes of Evolution, Immunology and Infection Research CoPI Institution Nicole Mideo University of Edinburgh Andrew Read Pennsylvania State University Nick Savill University of Edinburgh Participants Institution Aaron King University of Michigan Mike Boots University of Sheffield, UK Andreas Handel University of Georgia Mark Wacker Notre Dame Jessica Metcalf Princeton University, Oxford University Adrian Smith University of Oxford Dan Haydon University of Glasgow, UK Nicole Mideo University of Edinburgh Amy Pedersen University of Edinburgh, UK Dave Barry University of Glasgow, UK Keith Matthews University of Edinburgh, UK Andrea Graham Princeton Deborah Cromer University of New South Wales Ruston Antia Emory Yael Artzy University of Michigan Nick Savill University of Edinburgh Michael Gilchrist University of Tennessee Andy Fenton University of Liverpool Bill Nelson Queen’s University, Canada Beth Kochin Emory University Petra Schneider University of Edinburgh, UK Andrew Yates Albert Einstein College of Medicine, US Silvie Huijben Penn State University Ricardo Ramiro University of Edinburgh, UK Erida Gjini Univeristy of Glasgow Troy Day Queen’s University, Canada Kathy Hanley New Mexico State University Andrew Read Penn State University James Lloyd-Smith UCLA Mike Ferdig Notre Dame Sarah Reece Institutes of Evolution, Immunology and Infection Research Daniel Coombs University of British Columbia, Canada
Domestication as an evolutionary phenomenon: expanding the synthesis URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=218 Dates: 4/8/2011 - 4/11/2011
PI Institution Greger Larson Durham University CoPi Institution Michael Purugganan New York University Robin Allaby University of Warwick Dolores Piperno National Museum of Natural History Dorian Fuller University College-London Participants Institution Leilani Lucas University College-London Paul Gepts University of California, Davis Rafael F Rubio de Casas NESCent Tom Gilbert University of Copenhagen Dorian Fuller University College-London Tim Denham Monash University Robin Allaby University of Warwick Leif Andersson Uppsala University Keith Dobney Aberdeen University, UK Kristen Gremillion Ohio State University Fiona Marshall Washington University St. Louis Cynthia Climer Clemson University Lewis Lukens University of Guelph Loukas Barton University of Alaska, Fairbanks Chris Pires University of Missouri Kenneth Olsen Washington University in St. Louis Andrew Doust Oklahoma State University Manuel Arroyo-Kalin Durham University Peter J Richerson University of California Davis Oris Sanjur Smithsonian tropical Research Institute Dolores Piperno National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Tropical Research Mary Jane West-Eberhard Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Michael Purugganan New York University Greger Larson Durham University Mark Thomas UCL
Earth surface processes in the evolution of mammalian tooth shape URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=262 Dates: 4/27/2011 - 4/29/2011
PI Institution Richard Madden Duke University School of Medicine CoPi Institution Matthew Kohn Boise State University Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington Participants Institution Richard Madden Duke University School of Medicine Daniel Flath Macalester College Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington Laura Wilson kyoto University Museum Matthew Kohn Boise State University Edgardo Latrubesse University of Texas-Austin Paul Baker Duke University Sarah Feakins University of Southern California Regan Dunn University of Washington Nicolas Cassar Duke University Brittany Brand University of Washington Marcus Clauss University of Zurich (Switzerland) Rebecca Cuddahee Duke University Alexandra van der Geer NCB Naturalis Wendy Kuhne Savannah River National Laboratory Marith Reheis USGS Susan Williams Ohio University Peter Ungar University of Arkansas Philip Rundel University of California-Los Angeles Rene Bobe University of Georgia Mikael Fortelius University of Helsinki John Parkes Landcare Research Samantha Evans Boise State University Alejandro Kramarz Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Basil Gomez University of Hawaii Richard Kay Duke University Christine M Janis Brown University Jenny L McGuire NESCent Siobhan Cooke Duke University Nelson Beyer USGS Lauren Gonzales Duke University Maxx Toler Duke University Alejo Scarano Universidad Nacional de La Plata Steve Churchill Duke University
Evolutionary Origins and Development of Woody Plants URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=287 Dates: 10/14/2011 - 10/17/2011
PI Institution Andrew Groover US Forest Service and University of California-Davis CoPi Institution Quentin Cronk Department of Botany, University of British Columbia Participants Institution Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi Duke University Quentin Cronk Department of Botany, University of British Columbia William (Ned) Freidman Harvard University Matias Kirst University of Florida Valdimir Filkov University of California-Davis Aaron Liston Oregon State University Pat Gensel University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Neelima Sinha University of California-Davis Brook Moyers University of British Columbia William Stein Binghamton University Malorie Taylor University of California-Davis Andrew Eckert virginia Commonwealth University Rachel Spicer Connecticut College Frederic Lens Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis David Neale University of California-Davis David Hearn towson University Andrew Groover US Forest Service and University of California-Davis Ron Sederoff North Carolina State Univeristy Yka Helariutta University of Helsinki Rob Martienssen Cold Spring Harbor Labs Ove Nilsson Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Carl Douglas University of British Columbia Matthew W Vaughn University of Texas-Austin
Modeling protein structural and energetic constraints on sequence evolution URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=288 Dates: 10/18/2011 - 10/21/2011
PI Institution David Liberles University of Wyoming CoPi Institution Sarah Teichmann Cambridge University Participants Institution Ivet Bahar University of Pittsburgh Tina Perica Cambridge University Richard Goldstein NIMR Arne Elofsson Stockholm University Mark Holder University of Kansas Charles Brooks University of Michigan Ugo Bastolla Spain Nikolay Dokholyan University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Erich Bornberg-Bauer University of Muenster Gina Cannarozzi University of Bern Joe Thornton HHMI/University of Oregon Sarah Teichmann Medical Research Council Ashley Teufel University of Wyoming Dan Weinreich Brown University Gavin Naylor College of Charleston Simon Whelan University of Manchester David Liberles University of Wyoming Tal Pupko tel-Aviv University Kimmen Sjolander University of California-Berkeley Jesse Bloom Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Jeff Thorne North Carolina State University Johan Grahnen University of Wyoming David Swofford Duke University Shamil Sunyaev Harvard Medical School Eugene Shakhnovich Harvard University A.P. Jason de Koning University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine David Pollock University of Colorado-Denver Nicholas Lartillot University of Montreal Lynne Regan Yale University Clemens Lakner North Carolina State University Simon Lovell University of Manchester Julian Echave Universidad Nacional de San Martin Dietlind Gerloff University of California-Santa Cruz Lucy Colwell Cambridge University
The origin and evolution of animal-microbe interactions URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=263 Dates: 10/24/2011 - 10/27/2011
PI Institution Margaret McFall-Ngai University of Wisconsin-Madison CoPi Institution Michael G. Hadfield University of Hawaii-Hilo Participants Institution Gerard Eberl Pasteur Institute Jessica L Metcalf University of Colorado-Boulder Andrew Knoll Harvard University Margaret McFall-Ngai University of Wisconsin-Madison Nicole Dubilier Max Planck Institute Scott Gilbert Swarthmore College, University of Helsinki Thomas Bosch Christian-Albrechts University Kiel Ann Reid American Society of Microbiology Jan Sapp York University Michael G. Hadfield University of Hawaii Jennifer Wernegreen Duke University Tadashi Fukami Stanford University Diethard Tautz Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology Hannah Carey University of Wisconsin-Madison Bernie Degnan University of Queensland Edward Ruby University of Wisconsin-Madison Sarkis Mazmanian California Institute of Technology Mary Rumpho University of Maine Naomi Pierce Harvard University Angela Douglas Cornell University Natacha Kremer University of Wisconsin-Madison Jon Sanders Harvard University Ute Hentschel julius-von-Sachs Institute for Biological Sciences Tomislav Domazet-Loso Ruder Boskovic Institute Nicole King University of California-Berkeley John Rawls University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Staffan Kjelleberg University of New South Wales COURSES
Practical computing for biologists (and other scientists) URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=281 Dates: 6/6/2011 - 6/15/2011
PI Institution Steven Haddock Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute CoPi Institution Casey Dunn Brown University Participants Institution Casey Dunn Brown University Steven Haddock Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Workshop on evolutionary quantitative genetics URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=275 Dates: 8/8/2011 - 8/13/2011
PI Institution Stevan J Arnold Oregon State University (Corvallis,OR) CoPi Institution Joe Felsenstein tBD (NC STATES) Participants Institution Debora Goedert Ohio University Josef Uyeda Oregon State University Daniel Fulop University of California-Davis Vicente Diego Ortega Del Vecchyo University of California-Los Angeles Cassia Oliveira University of Nebraska-Lincoln Marguerite Butler University of Hawaii Yakubu Abdulmojeed Cornell University Luke Harmon University of Idaho Joe Felsenstein University of Washington Stevan J Arnold Oregon State University Raul Sedano University of California-Los Angeles Adam Jones texas A & M University Maia Rafael University of Akron
Next-gen sequencing: data acquisition, comparative genomics, design and analysis forpopulation genetics, systematics and development URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=282 Dates: 8/15/2011 - 8/29/2011
PI Institution Brian O’Connor University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill CoPi Institution Christine Elsik Georgetown University James Noonan Yale University Willam Cresko University of Oregon Greg Wray Duke University Jeffrey Townsend Yale University Alexie Papanicolaou CSIRO Konrad Paszkiewicz University of Exeter Jennifer Taylor Australian National University Participants Institution Kerin Bentley University of Georgia Suegene Noh kansas State University Francesc Lopez Giraldez Yale University Jeffrey Townsend Yale University Maria Jose Ruiz Lopez University of Missouri Jennifer Taylor Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Alexie Papanicolaou Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Julian Catchen University of Oregon Rajanikanth Govindarajulu University of Pittsburgh Brian O’Connor OICR Willam Cresko University of Oregon Iria Fernandez Silva University of Hawaii MoÅLnica Munoz-Torres Georgetown University Konrad Paszkiewicz University of Exeter Alejandro Grajales American Museum of Natural History
WORKING GROUPS
Costs of phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to novel environments URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=193 Dates: 12/8/2010 - 12/10/2010
PI Institution Courtney Murren College of Charleston CoPi Institution Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut Participants Institution Josh R Auld NESCent Mary Heskel Columbia University Sarah Seiter University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Cameron Ghalambor Colorado State University Corey Handelsman Colorado State University Joel Kingsolver University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Ulrich Steiner INSERM Heidi Maclean University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill David Pfennig University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Heather Maughan University of Toronto Courtney Murren College of Charleston Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut Rick Relyea University of Pittsburgh Joanna Masel University of Arizona Emilie Snell-Rood University of Indiana - Bloomington Hilary Callahan Barnard College
Grass phylogeny working group ii: inferring the complex history of c4 photosynthesis ingrasses URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=202 Dates: 1/20/2011 - 1/21/2011
PI Institution Erika J Edwards Brown University CoPi Institution Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne Stephen Smith NESCent Participants Institution Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield J. Travis Columbus Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Erika J Edwards Brown University Khidir Hilu virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Stephen Smith Brown University Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne Pascal-Antoine Christin Brown University Melvin Duvall Northern Illinois University Elizabeth Kellogg University of Missouri-St. Louis Guillaume Besnard CNRS-University of Toulouse III Beth Spriggs Brown University
Evoci toolkit: concept inventories to assess conceptual understanding of evolution URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=258 Dates: 1/20/2011 - 1/23/2011
PI Institution Rebecca Price University of Washington-Bothell CoPi Institution Kathryn Perez University of Wisconsin at La Crosse Participants Institution Jory P Weintraub NESCent Tessa Andrews Montana State University Gregory Davis Bryn Mawr College Joel Abraham SimBiotic Software/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Louise S Mead National Center for Science Education Anna Thanukos University of California, Museum of Paleontology Kathleen Fisher San Diego State University, Semantic Research, Inc. Bill McComas University of Arkansas Main Campus (Fayetteville,AR) Mike Smith Mercer University School of Medicine Sherry Southerland Florida State University Kathryn Perez University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Mark Terry Northwest School Rebecca Price University of Washington-Bothell
Determinants of extinction in ancient and modern seas URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=256 Dates: 1/27/2011 - 1/30/2011
PI Institution Paul G Harnik Stanford University CoPi Institution Rowan Lockwood College of William and Mary Seth Finnegan California Institute of Technology Participants Institution Rowan Lockwood College of William and Mary Carl Simpson Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute at the Humboldt University John Pandolfi University of Queensland, Australia Heike Lotze Dalhousie University Zoe Finkel Mount Allison University David Lindberg University of California Berkeley Paul G Harnik Stanford University Sean Anderson Dalhousie University Craig R McClain NESCent Aaron O’Dea Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Jenny L McGuire NESCent Seth Finnegan California Institute of Technology Synthesizing and databasing fossil calibrations: divergence dating and beyond URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=259 Dates: 3/3/2011 - 3/6/2011
PI Institution Daniel Ksepka North Carolina State University CoPi Institution James Parham Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Participants Institution Rachel Warnock University of Bristol Marcel van Tuinen University of North Carolina-Wilmington P. David Polly Indiana University JosA˝ PatanA˝ Instituto Butantan Elizabeth Hermsen Cornell University Maria Gandolfo Nixon Cornell University Matthew Phillips University of Queensland Walter Joyce University of Tubingen James Parham University of Alabama Matthew Carrano Smithsonian Institution Mike Benton University of Bristol Jason Head University of Toronto Daniel Ksepka North Carolina State University Kristin Lamm North Carolina State University Jessica Ware Rutgers University-Newark
Tempo and mode of plant trait evolution: synthesizing data from extant and extinct taxa URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=269 Dates: 2/28/2011 - 3/4/2011
PI Institution William Cornwell UC Berkeley CoPi Institution Amy Zanne University of Missouri-St. Louis Stephen Smith Brown University Participants Institution Daniel McGlinn University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Rafael F Rubio de Casas NESCent Elisabeth Wheeler North Carolina State University Erika J Edwards Brown University Jeremy Beaulieu Yale University Brian O’Meara University of Tennessee, Knoxville William Cornwell vrije Universiteit Stephen Smith Brown University Risa Sargent University of Ottawa Rich FitzJohn University of British Columbia Mark Westoby Macquarie University Amy Zanne University of Missouri, St Louis Ginger Jui University of California, Berkeley Dana Royer Wesleyan University Michael Donoghue Yale University Richard Ree the Field Museum Modeling the diversification of human languages URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=255 Dates: 3/16/2011 - 3/19/2011
PI Institution Michael Gavin victoria University of Wellington Participants Institution Joe McCarter victoria University of Wellington Kathryn Kirby University of British Columbia Michael Gavin victoria University of Wellington Rob Dunn North Carolina State University Thiago Rangel Universidad Federale de Goias Rick Stepp University of Florida Claire Bowern Yale University Gregor Yanega NESCent Michael Dunn Max Planck Institute fo Psycholinguistics Russell Gray University of Auckland Robert Colwell University of Connecticut Carlos A. Botero NESCent Jennifer Verdolin NESCent
Evolutionary shifts in vertebrate visual ecology and visual system morphology URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=192 Dates: 3/21/2011 - 3/24/2011
PI Institution Margaret Hall Midwestern University CoPI Institution Christopher Heesy Midwestern University Andrew Iwaniuk Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience Participants Institution Shaun P. Collin University of Western Australia Christopher Heesy Midwestern University Nathaniel Dominy Dartmouth College Bret Moore Purdue University Jeremy Corfield University of Lethbridge Esteban Fernandez-Juricic Purdue University Thomas Lisney University of Alberta Ellis Loew Cornell University Olaf RP Bininda-Emonds Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg Kara Yopak University of California-San Diego Sonke Johnsen Duke University Jason Kamilar Yale University Gillian Moritz University of California-Santa Cruz Saul Nava Harvard University Margaret Hall Midwestern University Germination, trait coevolution, and niche limits in changing environments URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=201 Dates: 3/28/2011 - 3/30/2011
PI Institution Kathleen Donohue Duke University CoPI Institution Rafael F Rubio de Casas Duke University Participants Institution Susan Kalisz University of Pittsburgh Kent Bradford University of California-Davis Jerry Baskin University of Kentucky Carol Baskin University of Kentucky Josh R Auld NESCent Rafael Rubio de Casas NESCent Lawrence Venable University of Arizona James S. Clark Duke University Johanna Schmitt Brown University Liana Burghardt Duke University Amity Wilczek Deep Springs College Charlie Willis Duke University Jessica Metcalf Oxford University Susan Meyer USDA Forest Service Jeannine Cavender-Bares University of Minnesota Kathleen Donohue Duke University
Integrative models of vertebrate sociality: evolution, mechanism and emergent properties URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=257 Dates: 4/1/2011 - 4/4/2011
PI Institution Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University CoPI Institution Nancy Solomon Miami University Steven Phelps University of Texas, Arlington Eileen Lacey University of California, Berkeley Participants Institution Steven Phelps University of Texas-Austin Nancy Solomon Miami University Iain Couzin Princeton University Michael Taborsky University of Bern Daniel Blumstein University of California-Los Angeles Annaliese Beery Smith College Jim Goodson Indiana University Ryan Earley University of Alabama Hans Hofmann University of Texas-Austin EmA-lia Martins Indiana University Eileen Lacey University of California-Berkeley Loren Hayes University of Louisiana-Monroe Peter Hurd University of Alberta Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University Origins of c4 grasslands: a new synthesis of phylogeny, ecology and paleobiology URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=260 Dates: 4/7/2011 - 4/10/2011
PI Institution Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield CoPI Institution Christopher Still University of California-Santa Barbara Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington Participants Institution Beth Forrestel Yale University Benjamin H Passey johns Hopkins University David Beerling University of Sheffield David Fox University of Minnesota Christopher Still University of California-Santa Barbara Michael Anderson Wake Forest University Stephanie Pau NCEAS Caroline Lehmann Macquarie University William Hoffmann North Carolina State University Melinda Smith Yale University Erika J Edwards Brown University Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne William Bond University of Cape Town Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington
Evolution and development of polyphenisms: pathways to innovation and diversification URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=149 Dates: 5/2/2011 - 5/4/2011
PI Institution David Pfennig University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill CoPI Institution Armin Moczek Indiana University-Bloomington Participants Institution Ian Dworkin Michigan State University Sonia E Sultan Wesleyan University Emilie Snell-Rood University of Minnesota Matthew Wund the College of New Jersey Tami Cruickshank Indiana University Cris C Ledon-Rettig University of South Florida Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut Susan Foster Clark University Fred Nijhout Duke University Armin Moczek University of Indiana David Pfennig University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Costs of phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to novel environments URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=193 Dates: 5/4/2011 - 5/6/2011
PI Institution Courtney Murren College of Charleston CoPI Institution Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut Participants Institution Emilie Snell-Rood University of Minnesota David Pfennig University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Rick Relyea University of Pittsburgh Mary Heskel Columbia University Ulrich Steiner Stanford University Sarah Seiter University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Heather Maughan University of Toronto Joanna Masel University of Arizona Corey Handelsman Colorado State University Cameron Ghalambor Colorado State University Hilary Callahan Barnard College Joel Kingsolver University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Josh R Auld NESCent Courtney Murren College of Charleston Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut
Integrating evolutionary theory with behavioral economics URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=219 Dates: 5/5/2011 - 5/7/2011
CoPI Institution John Gowdy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute David Wilson Binghamton University Participants Institution Bernard Winograd Evolution Institute Nancy Martin Evolution Institute Dennis Embry PAXIS Institute Peter Turchin University of Connecticut Harvey Whitehouse University of Oxford David Rand Harvard University Kevin Kniffin Cornell University John Gowdy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Michael Cox Indiana University Greg DeAngelo Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tony Biglan Oregon Research Institute John Allman California Institute of Technology John Barkley Rosser james Madison University David Wilson Binghamton University Evolutionary mismatch and what to do about it URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=261 Dates: 5/2/2011 - 5/4/2011
PI Institution David Wilson Binghamton University Participants Institution Nancy Martin Evolution Institute Bernard Winograd Prudential Financial, Inc. Jerry Lieberman Humanists of Florida Association David Harris UC Davis Jennifer Verdolin NESCent Clinton D Francis NESCent Martin Schlaepfer INRA Peter Turchin University of Connecticut Harvey Whitehouse University of Oxford David Stephens University of Minnesota Joseph L Graves Jr North Carolina A&T State University Elliott Sober University of Wisconsin Lesley Newson University of California Andrew Sih University of California Terry Burnham Harvard University Elisabeth Lloyd Indiana University Marco Del Giudice University of Turin David Wilson Binghamton University
Communicating the relevance of human evolution URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=203 Dates: 5/20/2011 - 5/22/2011
PI Institution Norman Johnson University of Massachusetts-Amherst CoPI Institution Louise S Mead National Center for Science Education James J Smith Michigan State University PARTICIPANTS Institution Sandra Ackerman Freelance T. Ryan Gregory University of Guelph Brad Williamson University of Kansas Chelsea Crawford Fremont Union High School District Kristin Jenkins NESCent Briana Pobiner Smithsonian Institution John M Logsdon University of Iowa James J Smith Michigan State University Caitlin Schrein Arizona State University Rebecca Jordan Rutgers University Jory P Weintraub NESCent Robin A Smith NESCent Craig Nelson Indiana University Randolph Nesse University of Michigan Lauri Lebo Journalist (Pennsylvania) Louise S Mead National Center for Science Education Norman Johnson University of Massachusetts-Amherst Evolutionary shifts in vertebrate visual ecology and visual system morphology URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=192 Dates: 6/27/2011 - 7/1/2011
PI Institution Margaret Hall Midwestern University CoPI Institution Andrew Iwaniuk Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience Christopher Heesy Midwestern University PARTICIPANTS Institution Gillian Moritz University of California Jason Kamilar Yale University Andrew Iwaniuk University of Lethbridge Saul Nava Harvard University Ellis Loew Cornell University Christopher Heesy Midwestern University Bret Moore Purdue University Eric Warrant University of Lund Esteban Fernandez-Juricic Purdue University Olaf RP Bininda-Emonds Carl von Ossietzky Universitaet Oldenburg Sonke Johnsen Duke University Kara Yopak University of Western Australia Shaun P. Collin University of Western Australia Margaret Hall Midwestern University
Grass phylogeny working group ii: inferring the complex history of c4 photosynthesis in grasses URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=202 Dates: 6/28/2011 - 7/1/2011
PI Institution Erika J Edwards Brown University CoPI Institution Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne Stephen Smith NESCent PARTICIPANTS Institution J. Travis Columbus Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Pascal-Antoine Christin Brown University Khidir Hilu Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Guillaume Besnard CNRS-University of Toulouse III Trevor Hodkinson trinity College Dublin Beth Spriggs Brown University Melvin Duvall Northern Illinois University Erika J Edwards Brown University Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne Stephen Smith Brown University Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield Determinants of extinction in ancient and modern seas URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=256 Dates: 7/6/2011 - 7/9/2011
PI Institution Paul G Harnik Stanford University CoPI Institution Rowan Lockwood College of William and Mary Seth Finnegan California Institute of Technology PARTICIPANTS Institution Heike Lotze Dalhousie University Derek Tittensor World Conservation Monitoring Centre John Pandolfi University of Queensland David Lindberg University of California Berkeley Jenny L McGuire NESCent Carl Simpson Humboldt University Berlin Craig R McClain NESCent Zoe Finkel Mount Allison University Sean Anderson Simon Fraser University Paul G Harnik Stanford University Rowan Lockwood College of William and Mary Seth Finnegan California Institute of Technology
Evoci toolkit: concept inventories to assess conceptual understanding of evolution URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=258 Dates: 7/6/2011 - 7/8/2011
PI Institution Rebecca Price University of Washington-Bothell CoPI Institution Kathryn Perez University of Wisconsin at La Crosse PARTICIPANTS Institution Anna Hiatt Oklahoma State University Terri McElhinny Michigan State University Ryan Walker University of Arkansas Main Campus (Fayetteville,AR) Gregory Davis Bryn Mawr College Mike Smith Mercer University School of Medicine Joel Abraham California State University-Fullerton Mark Terry Northwest School Kathryn Perez University of Wisconsin La Crosse Louise Mead BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action Tessa Andrews Montana State University Rebecca Price University of Washington-Bothell
Large-scale demographic, network and behavioral trait analyses of sociality URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=285 Dates: 7/14/2011 - 7/17/2011
PI Institution Jennifer Fewell Arizona State University CoPI Institution James H Hunt North Carolina State University Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University PARTICIPANTS Institution Judith Korb University of Osnabrueck Mauricio Gonzalez-Forero Univ. Tennessee Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University Jennifer Verdolin NESCent Collin McCabe Harvard University Jennifer Fewell Arizona State University Charles Nunn Harvard University Raghavendra Gadagkar Indian Institute of Science Carlos A. Botero NESCent Andy Russell University of Exeter Patrick Abbot vanderbilt University James H Hunt NC State University
Analysis and synthesis of physiologic data from the mammalian feeding apparatus URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=150 Dates: 7/28/2011 - 7/29/2011
PI Institution Christine E Wall Duke University CoPI Institution Susan Williams Ohio University Rebecca Z German johns Hopkins University Chris Vinyard Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy PARTICIPANTS Institution Vladimir Gapeyev NESCent Rebecca Z German johns Hopkins University Chris Vinyard Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy Susan Williams Ohio University Christine E Wall Duke University
Origins of c4 grasslands: a new synthesis of phylogeny, ecology and paleobiology URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=260 Dates: 9/22/2011 - 9/25/2011
PI Institution Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield CoPI Institution Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington Christopher Still University of California-Santa Barbara PARTICIPANTS Institution Beth Forrestel Yale University Melinda Smith Yale University William Bond University of Cape Town Stephanie Pau NCEAS Caroline Lehmann Macquarie University Chris Still University of California-Santa Barbara Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington David Beerling University of Sheffield Christopher Still University of California-Santa Barbara Nicolas Salamin University of Lausanne William Hoffmann North Carolina State University David Fox University of Minnesota Michael Anderson Wake Forest University Erika J Edwards Brown University Benjamin H Passey johns Hopkins University Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield Integrative models of vertebrate sociality: evolution, mechanism and emergent properties URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=257 Dates: 9/30/2011 - 10/2/2011
PI Institution Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University CoPI Institution Nancy Solomon Miami University Steven Phelps University of Texas, Arlington Eileen Lacey University of California, Berkeley PARTICIPANTS Institution Larry Young Emory University John Wingfield University of California-Davis Steve Phelps University of Texas-Austin Loren Hayes University of Louisiana-Monroe Michael Taborsky University of Bern Ryan Earley University of Alabama Hans Hofmann University of Texas-Austin Peter Hurd University of Alberta Daniel Blumstein University of California-Los Angeles EmA-lia Martins Indiana University Jim Goodson Indiana University Iain Couzin Princeton University Nancy Solomon Miami University Eileen Lacey University of California-Berkeley Annaliese Beery Smith College Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University
How does cognition evolve? URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=22 Dates: 10/13/2011 - 10/14/2011
PI Institution Charles Nunn University of California-Berkeley PARTICIPANTS Institution Charles Nunn Harvard University Brian Hare Duke University Collin McCabe Harvard University Tara Stoinski Zoo Atlanta and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Ludwig Huber Messerli Institute (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna) Evan MacLean Duke University Jingzhi Tan Duke University Jeff Stevens University of Nebraska Kara Schroepfer Duke University Alex Rosati Duke University Yanjie Su Peking University Chris Krupenye Duke University Al Kamil University of Nebraska Ikuma Adachi kyoto University Daniel Haun Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Filippo Aureli Liverpool John Moores University Victoria Wobber Harvard University Carel van Schaik University of Zurich Germination, trait coevolution, and niche limits in changing environments URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=201 Dates: 10/21/2011 - 10/23/2011
PI Institution Kathleen Donohue Duke University CoPI Institution Rafael F Rubio de Casas Duke University PARTICIPANTS Institution Amity Wilczek Deep Springs College Xavier Morin European Institute of Innovation and Technology Jessica Metcalf Princeton University Charlie Willis Duke University Lawrence Venable University of Arizona Rafael Rubio de Casas NESCent Susan Meyer USDA Forest Service Liana Burghardt Duke University Susan Kalisz University of Pittsburgh Kathleen Donohue Duke University James S. Clark Duke University Jeannine Cavender-Bares University of Minnesota Kent Bradford University of California-Davis Jerry Baskin University of Kentucky Carol Baskin University of Kentucky Josh R Auld NESCent Sharon Strauss University of California-Davis Johanna Schmitt Brown University
An integrative evolutionary approach to examine sexual selection as a mechanism ofspeciation URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=194 Dates: 11/10/2011 - 11/14/2011
PI Institution Rebecca Safran University of Colorado CoPI Institution Albert Uy Syracuse University PARTICIPANTS Institution Albert Uy Syracuse University Rebecca Safran University of Colorado
Tempo and mode of plant trait evolution: synthesizing data from extant and extinct taxa URL: http://www.nescent.org/science/awards_summary.php?id=269 Dates: 11/10/2011 - 11/14/2011
PI Institution William Cornwell UC Berkeley CoPI Institution Amy Zanne University of Missouri-St. Louis Stephen Smith Brown University PARTICIPANTS Institution Amy Zanne University of Missouri, St Louis Stephen Smith NESCent Appendix G: Publications From NESCent Supported Projects in Year 7
CATALYSIS MEETINGS Daniel Hartline Daniel K. Hartline 2011 The evolutionary origins of glia, Glia, volume 59, Petra Lenz issue 9, pp. 1215-1236 Mark Martindale David Colman Elaine Seaver Günter Wagner
Daniel Faith Daniel E. Ruzzante and Jorge Rabassa 2011 Palaeogeography and palaeoclimatology of Jack Sites Patagonia: effects on biodiversity, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, volume 103, issue 2, pp. 221-228
Daniel Hartline Caroline H. Wilson and Daniel K. Hartline 2011 The novel organization Günter Wagner and development of copepod myelin. II. Non-glial origin The Journal of Petra Lenz Comparative Neurology Elaine Seaver Mark Martindale David Colman
Elaine Seaver Caroline H. Wilson and Daniel K. Hartline 2011 The novel organization David Colman and development of copepod myelin. II. Non-glial origin The Journal of Daniel Hartline Comparative Neurology Günter Wagner Mark Martindale Petra Lenz
COURSE
Konrad Paszkiewicz Staci D. Bilbo, Gregory A. Wray, Sarah E. Perkins and William Parker Brian O’Connor 2011 Reconstitution of the human biome as the most reasonable Jeffrey Townsend solution for epidemics of allergic and autoimmune diseases Medical Greg Wray Hypotheses doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2011.06.019 Willam Cresko James Noonan Christine Elsik Jennifer Taylor Alexie Papanicolaou
GRADUATE FELLOW
Nimrod D Rubinstein Nimrod D. Rubinstein, Adi Doron-Faigenboim, Itay Mayrose, and Tal Pupko 2011 Evolutionary models accounting for layers of selection in protein coding genes and their impact on the inference of positive selection Mol Biol Evol doi:10.1093/ molbev/msr162
Nimrod D Rubinstein Nimrod D. Rubinstein, David Zeevi, Yaara Oren, Gil Segal, and Tal Pupko 2011 The Operonic Location of Auto-Transcriptional Repressors is Highly Conserved in Bacteria Mol Biol Evol doi:10.1093/molbev/msr163 LONG-TERM SABBATICAL Michael S Rosenberg Anderson, C.D., and M.S. Rosenberg. 2011. Variation in association with manmade habitat edges exhibited by the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) in St. Louis County, Missouri. Journal of Herpetology 45(1):50-55.
Douglas Eernisse Daniel I. Speiser, Douglas J. Eernisse and Sanke Johnsen. 2011, A Chiton Uses Aragonite Lenses to Form Images, Current Biology, volume 21, issue 8, pp. 665-670
Armin Moczek Armin P. Moczek. 2011, Evolutionary biology: The origins of novelty, Nature, volume 473, issue 7345, pp. 34-35
Tal Pupko A. Barzel, E. Privman, M. Peeri, A. Naor, E. Shachar, D. Burstein, R. Lazary, U. Gophna, T. Pupko and M. Kupiec 2011 Native homing endonucleases can target conserved genes in humans and in animal models, Nucleic Acids Research, volume 39, issue 15, pp. 6646-6659
Dorothee Huchon Dirk Erpenbeck, Jagen Schmitz, Gennady Churakov, Dorothea Huchon, Gert Warheide and Bernard M. Degnan 2011 First evidence of miniature transposable elements in sponges (Porifera) Hydrobiologia DOI: 10.1007/s10750-011-0775-4
Tal Pupko Eyal Privman, Osnat Penn, and Tal Pupko 2011 Improving the performance of positive selection inference by filtering unreliable alignment regions Mol Biol Evol doi:10.1093/molbev/msr177
Tal Pupko Pupko, Tal 2011 Evolution after gene duplication Trends in Evolutionary Biology 10.4081/eb.2011.e1
Weigang Qiu Xianfa Xie, Wei-Gang Qiu, and Peter Lipke 2011 Accelerated and adaptive evolution of yeast sexual adhesins Mol Biol Evol doi:10.1093/molbev/msr145
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW Josh R Auld Escobar, J.S., J.R. Auld, A.C. Correa, J.M. Alonso, Y.K. Bony, J.M. Koene, J.P. Pointier, P. Jarne & P. David. Patterns of mating system evolution in hermaphroditic animals: correlations among selfing rate, inbreeding depression, and the timing of reproduction. Evolution.
Josh R Auld Auld, J.R. & A. Charmantier. 2011. Life history of breeding partners alters age- related changes of reproductive traits in a natural population of blue tits. Oikos
Brian L. Sidlauskas Sidlauskas, B.L. et al. (2011) Dealing with allometry in linear and geometric morphometrics: a taxonomic case study in the Leporinus cylindriformis group (Characiformes: Anostomidae) with description of a new species from Suriname. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 162:103-130
Clinton D Francis Francis, C., C. Ortega, et al. 2011. Different behavioural responses to anthropogenic noise by two closely related passerine birds. Biology Letters. doi:10.1098/ rsbl.2011.0359. Brian L. Sidlauskas Alex Dornburg, Brian Sidlauskas, Francesco Santini, Laurie Sorenson, Thomas J. Near and Michael E. Alfaro (2011) The Influence of an Innovative Locomotor Srategy on the Phenotypic Diversification of Triggerfish (Family: Balistidae), Evolution, volume 65, issue 7, pp. 1912-1926
Jenny L McGuire Anthony D. Barnosky, Nicholas Matzke, Susumu Tomiya, Guinevere O. U. Wogan, Brian Swartz, Tiago B. Quental, Charles Marshall, Jenny L. McGuire, Emily L. Lindsey, Kaitlin C. Maguire, Ben Mersey and Elizabeth A. Ferrer. 2011, Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?, Nature, volume 471, issue 7336, pp. 51-57 Julie A Meachen-Samuels Van Valkenburgh, B., A. Curtis, J. X. Samuels, D. Bird, B. Fulkerson, J. Meachen- Samuels, and G. Slater. 2011. Aquatic adaptations in the nose of carnivorans: evidence from the turbinates. Journal of Anatomy 218: 298-310.
Clinton D Francis Francis, C.D., C. P. Ortega, and J. Hansen. 2011. Importance of juniper to birds nesting in pinyon-juniper woodlands in northwest New Mexico. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:1574-1580
Clinton D Francis Francis, C. D., J. Paritsis, C. P. Ortega, & A. Cruz. 2011. Landscape patterns of avian habitat use and nest success are affected by chronic gas well compressor noise. Landscape Ecology doi:101007/s10980-011-9609-z.
Juan C Santos Dendrobates rufulus Gorzula, 1990 is a poorly known dendrobatid, described from two specimens from the Chimanta Massif in the Venezuelan Guayana. We redescribe it based on six additional specimens and allocate this species to the genus Anomaloglossus. We also provide data on natural history, such as ecology, habitat, and vocalization.
Carlos A. Botero Lovette IJ, Arbogast BS, Curry RL, Zink RM, Botero CA, Sullivan JP, Talaba AL, Harris RB, Rubenstein DR, Ricklefs RE, and E Bermingham (2011). Phylogenetic Relationships of the Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Aves: Mimidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In press
Gordon Burleigh J. G. Burleigh, M. S. Bansal, O. Eulenstein, S. Hartmann, A. Wehe and T. J. Vision 2011 Genome-Scale Phylogenetics: Inferring the Plant Tree of Life from 18,896 Gene Trees, Systematic Biology, volume 60, issue 2, pp. 117-125
Trina E Roberts Trina E. Roberts, Hayley C. Lanier, Eric J. Sargis and Link E. Olson. 2011, Molecular phylogeny of treeshrews (Mammalia: Scandentia) and the timescale of diversification in Southeast Asia, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, volume 60, issue 3, pp. 358-372
Josh R Auld Juan S. Escobar, Josh R. Auld, Ana C. Correa, Juan M. Alonso, Yves K. Bony, Marie-Agnes Coutellec, Joris M. Koene, Jean-Pierre Pointier, Philippe Jarne and Patrice David 2011 Patterns of Mating-System Evolution in Hermaphroditic Animals: Correlations Among Selfing Rate, Inbreeding Depression, and the Timing of Reproduction, Evolution, volume 65, issue 5, pp. 1233-1253
Benjamin D Redelings Law, S. H. W., B. D. Redelings and S. W. Kullman. In press. Comparative Genomics of Duplicate γ-Glutamyl Transferase Genes in Teleosts: Medaka (Oryzias latipes), Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Green Spotted Pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis), Fugu (Takifugu rubripes), and Zebrafish (Danio rerio). JEZ part B.
Benjamin D Redelings Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, P. R. Peres-Neto, and B. D. Redelings. In press. A new method for identifying exceptional phenotypic diversification. Evolution.
Jennifer Verdolin Verdolin, J.L. In Press. Genetic variation of populations. In: Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition.
Jennifer Verdolin Verdolin, J.L. In Press. Genetic Ancestry. In: Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition.
Peter J Unmack M. Adams, S.D. Wedderburn, P.J. Unmack, M.P. Hammer and J. B. Johnson 2011 Use of Congeneric Assessment to Reveal the Linked Genetic Histories of Two Threatened Fishes in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, Conservation Biology, volume 25, issue 4, pp. 767-776
Peter J Unmack Peter J. Unmack, Michael P. Hammer, Mark Adams, and Thomas E. Dowling 2011 A Phylogenetic Analysis of Pygmy Perches (Teleostei: Percichthyidae) with an Assessment of the Major Historical Influences on Aquatic Biogeography in Southern Australia Syst Biol (2011) doi:10.1093/sysbio/syr0424, pp. 767-776 Brian C O’Meara Goff SA, Vaughn M, McKay S, Lyons E, Stapleton AE, Gessler D, Matasci N, Wang L, Hanlon M, Lenards A, Muir A, Merchant N, Lowry S, Mock S, Helmke M, Kubach A, Narro M, Hopkins N, Micklos D, Hilgert U, Gonzales M, Jordan C, Skidmore E, Dooley R, Cazes J, McLay R, Lu Z, Pasternak S, Koesterke L, Piel WH, Grene R, Noutsos C, Gendler K, Feng X, Tang C, Lent M, Kim S-J, Kvilekval K, Manjunath BS, Tannen V, Stamatakis A, Sanderson M, Welch SM, Cranston KA, Soltis P, Soltis D, Oâ Meara B, Ane C, Brutnell T, Kleibenstein DJ, White JW, Leebens-Mack J, Donoghue MJ, Spalding EP, Vision TJ, Myers CR, Lowenthal D, Enquist BJ, Boyle B, Akoglu A, Andrews G, Ram S, Ware D, Stein L and Stanzione D (2011) The iPlant collaborative: cyberinfrastructure for plant biology. Front. Plant Sci. 2:34. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2011.00034
Gregor Yanega M.L. Smith, G.M. Yanega and A. Ruina. 2011, Elastic instability model of rapid beak closure in hummingbirds, Journal of Theoretical Biology, volume 282, issue 1, pp. 41-51
Rafael F Rubio de Casas C. Granado-Yela, C. Garcia-Verdugo, K. Carillo, R. Rubio De Casas, L.A. Kleczkowski and L. Balaguer 2011 Temporal matching among diurnal photosynthetic patterns within the crown of the evergreen sclerophyll Olea europaea L., Plant, Cell & Environment, volume 34, issue 5, pp. 800-810
Liam J Revell Revell, L. J., D. L. Mahler, P. R. Peres-Neto, and B. D. Redelings. In Press. A new method for identifying exceptional phenotypic diversification. Evolution.
Liam J Revell Kolbe, J. J., L. J. Revell, B. Szekely, E. D. Brodie III, and J. B. Losos. In press. Convergent evolution of phenotypic integration and its alignment with morphological diversification in Caribbean Anolis ecomorphs. Evolution.
SHORT-TERM VISITOR David Houle Houle, D. C. Pelabon, G. P. Wagner, T. F. Hansen. 2011. Measurement and meaning in biology. Quarterly Review of Biology 86:1-32.
Claire Williams Claire G. Williams and Patrick Aderkas. 2011. Marking live conifer pollen for long- distance dispersal experiments, Oecologia, volume 165, issue 1, pp. 255-260
Claire Williams Williams, C.G., V. Martinez and C. Magni. 2011. Inferring past climate change response for Fitzroya cupressoides. Japanese Journal of Historical Botany 19 (1-2): 101-107.
Claire Williams Williams, C.G. 2011. A history of persistence- and decline- for Southern Hemisphere conifer, Fitzroya cupressoides. Forest History Today 16 (1-2): 37-41.
Einat Hazkani-Covo O. Popa, E. Hazkani-Covo, G. Landan, W. Martin and T. Dagan (2011) Directed Tal Dagan networks reveal genomic barriers and DNA repair bypasses to lateral gene transfer among prokaryotes, Genome Research, volume 21, issue 4, pp. 599-609
Rebecca Safran Jennifer M. Gumm, Tamra C. Mendelson 2011 The evolution of multi-component visual signals in darters (genus Etheostoma) Acta Zoologica 57(2): 125 - 139
Glenda M Wardle J. Gurevitch, G. A. Fox, G. M. Wardle, â Inderjit and D. Taub 2011 Emergent insights Gordon A Fox from the synthesis of conceptual frameworks for biological invasions, Ecology Letters, Daniel Taub volume 14, issue 4, pp. 407-418 Jessica Gurevitch Inderjit Singh
Rebecca Safran Eileen A. Hebets, Jay A. Stafstrom, Rafael L. Rodriguez and Dustin J. Wilgers. 2011, Enigmatic ornamentation eases male reliance on courtship performance for mating success, Animal Behaviour, volume 81, issue 5, pp. 963-972 WORKING GROUP Rebecca Safran Speciation with gene flow is greatly facilitated when traits subject to divergent Albert Uy selection also contribute to non-random mating. Such traits have been called “magic traits” , which could be interpreted to imply that they are rare, special, or unrealistic. Here, we question this assumption by illustrating that magic traits can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including ones in which reproductive isolation arises as an automatic by product of adaptive divergence. We also draw upon the theoretical literature to explore whether magic traits have a unique role in speciation or can be mimicked in their effects by physically linked trait complexes. We conclude that magic traits are more frequent than previously perceived, but further work is needed to clarify their importance.
John Gowdy Dennis D. Embry. 2011, Behavioral Vaccines and Evidence-Based Kernels: David Wilson Nonpharmaceutical Approaches for the Prevention of Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders, Psychiatric Clinics of North America, volume 34, issue 1, pp. 1-34
Marc Suchard Ceiridwen J. Edwards, Marc A. Suchard, Philippe Lemey, John J. Welch, Ian Barnes, Alexei Drummond Tara L. Fulton, Ross Barnett, Tamsin C. O’Connell, Peter Coxon, Nigel Monaghan et Andrew Rambaut al. Ancient Hybridization and an Irish Origin for the Modern Polar Bear Matriline. Current Biology, 07 July 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.058
Susan C Alberts A. M. Bronikowski, J. Altmann, D. K. Brockman, M. Cords, L. M. Fedigan, A. Pusey, Karen B Strier T. Stoinski, W. F. Morris, K. B. Strier and S. C. Alberts 2011 Aging in the Natural World: Comparative Data Reveal Similar Mortality Patterns Across Primates, Science, volume 331, issue 6022, pp. 1325-1328
Karen B Strier William F. Morris, Jeanne Altmann, Diane K. Brockman, Marina Cords, Linda M. Susan C Alberts Fedigan, Anne E. Pusey, Tara S. Stoinski, Anne M. Bronikowski, Susan C. Alberts and Karen B. Strier. 2011, Low Demographic Variability in Wild Primate Populations: Fitness Impacts of Variation, Covariation, and Serial Correlation in Vital Rates, The American Naturalist, volume 177, issue 1, pp. E14-E28 Samantha Forde Hal L. Smith. 2011, Bacterial competition in serial transfer culture, Mathematical Ivana Gudelj Biosciences, volume 229, issue 2, pp. 149-159
Arlin Stoltzfus Rutger A Vos, Jason Caravas, Klaas Hartmann, Mark A Jensen and Chase Miller. Rutger Vos 2011, BIO::Phylo-phyloinformatic analysis using perl, BMC Bioinformatics, volume 12, issue 1, pp. 63
Rutger Vos Brandon Chisham, Ben Wright, Trung Le, Tran Son and Enrico Pontelli. 2011, Arlin Stoltzfus CDAO-Store: Ontology-driven Data Integration for Phylogenetic Analysis, BMC Bioinformatics, volume 12, issue 1, pp. 98
Robert Holt Amy L. Angert, Lisa G. Crozier, Leslie J. Rissler, Sarah E. Gilman, Josh J. Tewksbury Michael Angilletta and Amanda J. Chunco 2011 Do species’ traits predict recent shifts at expanding Lauren Buckley range edges?, Ecology Letters, volume 14, issue 7, pp. 677-689 Joshua Tewksbury
Rafael F Rubio de Casas Rafael R. de Casas, Pablo Vargas, Esther Pérez-Corona, Esteban Manrique, Carlos Kathleen Donohue García-Verdugo and Luis Balaguer 2011 Sun and shade leaves of Olea europaea respond differently to plant size, light availability and genetic variation, Functional Ecology, volume 25, issue 4, pp. 802-812
Catherine Graham Carlos Daniel Cadena, Kenneth H. Kozak, Juan Pablo Gomez, Juan Luis Parra, Christy Ken Kozak M. McCain, Rauri C. K. Bowie, Ana C. Carnaval, Craig Moritz, Carsten Rahbek, Trina Carsten Rahbek E. Roberts, Nathan J. Sanders, Christopher J. Schneider, Jeremy VanDerWal, Kelly R. Zamudio, and Catherine H. Graham 2011 Latitude, elevational climatic zonation and speciation in New World vertebrates Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0720 Michael Donoghue Margaret E. K. Evans, David J. Hearn, Kathryn E. Theiss, Karen Cranston, Kent Paul Manos E. Holsinger and Michael J. Donoghue 2011 Extreme environments select for reproductive assurance: evidence from evening primroses (Oenothera), New Phytologist, volume 191, issue 2, pp. 555-563
Daniel Ksepka Daniel T. Ksepka, Michael J. Benton, Matthew T. Carrano, Maria A. Gandolfo, James Parham Jason J. Head, Elizabeth J. Hermsen, Walter G. Joyce, Kristin S. Lamm, José S. L. Patané, Matthew J. Phillips, P. David Polly, Marcel Van Tuinen, Jessica L. Ware, Rachel C. M. Warnock, and James F. Parham 2011 Synthesizing and databasing fossil calibrations: divergence dating and beyond Biol. Lett. doi:10.1098/ rsbl.2011.0356
David Pfennig A. P. Moczek, S. Sultan, S. Foster, C. Ledon-Rettig, I. Dworkin, H. F. Armin Moczek Nijhout, E. Abouheif and D. W. Pfennig 2011 The role of developmental plasticity in evolutionary innovation, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, volume 278, issue 1719, pp. 2705-2713 Appendix H: Press Coverage of NESCent Science and Activities for Year 7 Postdoctoral fellows
Josh Auld: “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose good mates” (Eurekalert) “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose good mates” (Science 360, National Science Foundation) “Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose good mates” (USA Today) “How male birds affect female fertility” (MSNBC)
Carlos Botero: “Climate for divorce” (Science News)
Clinton Francis: “Songbirds tweak their tunes in different ways to cope with clamor” (Eurekalert) “C’mon feel the noise: Related songbirds respond differently to noise pollution, possibly complicating conservation efforts” (Science Magazine) “Songbirds tweak their tunes in different ways to cope with clamor” (Science 360 news highlights from NSF) “Songbirds adapt to noisy environments” (US News and World Report) “When birds go to town” (Science News)
Jenny McGuire: “Climate changes, and there goes the neighborhood” (ScienceNews) “Study offers warning about next potential mass extinction” (USA Today) “Earth’s sixth mass extinction: is it almost here?” (National Science Foundation)
Rafael Rubio de Casas: “The future of a fog oasis” (Scientific American)
Juan Santos: “Treadmill tests for poison frogs prove toxic species are more physically fit” (Eurekalert) “Poisonous lifestyle makes frogs more fit” (Wired Science) “Treadmill test reveals most poisonous frogs are best frog athletes” (Discovery Channel: Animal Planet) “Athletic frogs: Go bold or go home” (Futurity) “Froggy fitness: toxic species prove most athletic” (LiveScience) “Poison frog athletes” (California Academy of Sciences) “Poison dart frogs leap to the top for frog fitness” (MSNBC News)
Stephen Smith: “Single parenthood doesn’t pay off for plants” (Eurekalert) Peter Unmack: “Little Aussie Batter” (Good Weekend Magazine, Melbourne)
Gregor Yanega: “Hummingbirds catch flying bugs with the help of fast--closing beaks” (Eurekalert) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/nesc-hcf071911.php
Catalysis meetings and working groups
Lauren Buckley et al.: Mechanistic distribution models: energetics, fitness, and population dynamics “Coping with climate change” (Eurekalert)
Alexei Drummond et al.: Software for Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees: “Ancestry of polar bears traced to Ireland” (ScienceDaily)
Norman Johnson et al.: Communicating the relevance of human evolution “Panelists to discuss evolution of human brain size, skin color and diet at AAAS meeting” (Eurekalert) “Thinking big” (Science News) “Eating meat drove the evolution of our big, powerful brain” (AAAS Meeting Coverage. National Association of Science Writers) “Human brain evolution and creatine gene expression” (Scitable) “Just how big a deal is milk drinking?” (Scientific American)
Ken Kozak et al.: Montane diversity in space and time: linking evolutionary biology and macroecology “Stable temperatures boost biodiversity in tropical mountains” (Eurekalert)
Jonathan Payne et al.: Phanerozoic body size trends in time and space: macroevolution and macroecology “Marine snails get a metabolism boost” (Eurekalert)
Karen Strier and Susan Alberts: Evolutionary ecology of primate life histories “Primates are more resilient than other animals to environmental ups and downs” (Eurekalert) “Planet of the apes...and monkeys and humans” (TIME Magazine) “Primates better adapted to environmental changes” (Birmingham Star) “Primates best at coping with change” (St. Louis Globe–Democrat) “Lovely weather for ducks and primates” (Futurity) “Aging rates, gender gap in mortality similar across all primates” (Eurekalert) “Humans age at same rate as chimps, gorillas” (Discovery News) “Humans age at same pace as other primates, study finds” (US News & World Report) “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (ABC News) “What do you mean I’m aging like a baboon?!” (MSNBC News) “Study finds primates age gracefully” (National Science Foundation) “Science podcast” (Science Magazine) “To age is primate” (Duke News) “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (USA Today) “Nonhuman primates and humans have similar aging patterns, study shows” (Los Angeles Times) “Despite long lives, humans age like other primates” (NPR’s Science Friday) “Talk of the Nation: Despite long lives, humans age like other primates” (NPR) “Humans, primates age in similar ways” (CBS News) “Humans, apes, have similar aging patterns” (Seattle Times) “Humans, monkeys age the same way” (Futurity) “Time marches on for aging people in about the same way as for our primate cousins, study finds” (News Radio Toronto) “When it comes to aging, we’re just like monkeys” (The Globe and Mail) “Research insights: What it means to be human” (The Examiner)
Visiting scholars
Ryan Calsbeek “Of lizards, female choice and male competition” (Science in the Triangle) Tal Pupko “New study pinpoints why some microbial genes are more promiscuous than others” (Eurekalert)
Education and outreach group
Darwin Day Road Show “A nationwide day for honoring Charles Darwin, but handled with caution” (New York Times) “It’s cool, really, we promise” (GenomeWeb) “Evolution: Only in America” (BioJobBlog)
NESCENT EVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL “Cold-blooded cannibals: extreme adaptations to island life” (UK Guardian) “Crafty island plants use lizards to disperse their seeds” (UK Guardian)
NESCent leadership and staff
Joel Kingsolver “Evolution drives many plants and animals to be bigger, faster” (Eurekalert)
Craig McClain “The mass extinction of scientists who study species” (Wired Magazine) “Scientists take Charles Darwin on the road” (Miller-McCune) “Life under constant pressure” (Miller-McCune) Appendix I: Active Projects in Year 7 (Project Titles Are Hyperlinks)
Name Institution Project Title Start Date End Date CATALYSIS MEETING
Richard Moore Miami University-Oxford Emergence of gender and sex 5/1/2010 4/30/2011 Tia-Lynn Ashman University of Pittsburgh chromosomes: evolutionary insights froma diversity of taxa
James H Hunt North Carolina State University Evolution of insect sociality: 4/1/2010 3/31/2011 an integrative modeling approach
Greger Larson Durham University Domestication as an evolutionary 4/1/2010 3/31/2011 Dolores Pipemo National Museum of phenomenon: expanding the synthesis Robin Allaby Natural History Michael Purugganan University of Warwick Dorian Fuller New York University University of College-London
Sarah Reece Institutes of Evolution, Immunology Evolution of infectious diseases: integrating 5/1/2010 4/30/2011 Andrew Read and Infection Research empirical and modeling approaches Nick Savill Pennsylvania State University Nicole Mideo University of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh
Richard Madden Duke University School of Med. Earth surface processes in the evolution of 10/10/2010 10/10/2011 Matthew Kohn Boise State University mammalian tooth shape Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington
Margaret McFall-Ngai University of Wisconsin-Madison The origin and evolution of animal-microbe 10/10/2010 10/10/2011 Michael G. Hadfield University of Hawaii-Hilo interaction
Holly Bik University of New Hampshire High-throughput biodiversity research using 10/10/2010 10/10/2011 W. Kelley Thomas University of New Hampshire eukaryotic metagenetics
Andrew Groover US Forest Service and University of Evolutionary Origins and Development of 5/1/2011 4/30/2012 Quentin Cronk California-Davis Woody Plants Deptartment of Botany, University of British Columbia David Liberles University of Wyoming Modeling protein structural and energetic 5/1/2011 4/30/2012 Sarah Teichman Cambridge University constraints on sequence evolution
Jason Wolf University of Bath An integrative understanding of the 5/1/2011 4/30/2012 Francisco Ubeda University of Tennessee-Knoxville evolution of genomic imprinting Hamish Spencer University of Otago (New Zealand)
Eric Crandall University of California-Santa Cruz The Molecular Ecology and Evolution 5/1/2011 4/30/2012 Cynthia Riginos University of Queensland of the Indo-Pacific: A Collaborative Research Network
COURSE
Stevan J Arnold Oregon State University Workshop on evolutionary quantitative 8/8/2011 8/13/2011 Joe Felsenstein TBD (NC States) genetics
Steven Haddock Monterey Bay Aquarium Practical computing for biologists (and 6/6/2011 6/15/2011 Casey Dunn Research Institute other scientists) Brown University Brian O’Connor Univ. of North Carolina Chapel Hill Next-gen sequencing: data acquisition, 8/15/2011 8/29/2011 Konrad Paszkiewicz University of Exeter comparitive genomics, design analysis Alexie Papanicolaou CSIRO for population genetics, systematics and Jeffrey Townsend Yale University development Greg Wray Duke University William Cresko University of Oregon James Noonanand Yale University Christine Elsik Georgetown University Jennifer Taylor Australian National Unversity Name Institution Project Title Start Date End Date GRADUATE FELLOW
Bret Moore Purdue University Do retinal specializations reflect ecology? 8/23/2010 12/10/2010 An evolutionary perspective
Paul Durst Duke University Evaluating patterns and trends in insular 8/23/2010 12/10/2010 body size evolution
Sarah Seiter Univ. of North Carolina Chapel Hill Distinguishing trait value and trai plasticity 8/23/2010 12/10/2010 in the evolution of reaction norms Nimrod D Rubinstein Tel-Aviv University Detection of clade-specific accelerations 9/20/2010 12/10/2010 and decelerations in gene evolution rates
Luke Mahler Harvard University Improving and testing ecological models of 9/1/2010 12/10/2010 phenotypic diversification LONG-TERM SABBATICAL
Armin Moczek Indiana University-Bloomington The nature of nurture: how environmental 9/1/2010 6/3/2011 and genetic information interact to shape development and evolution
Dorothee Huchon Tel-Aviv University Current view of rodent phylogenetic 9/1/2010 8/31/2011 relationships
Tal Pupko Tel-Aviv University Evolutionary models accounting for multi- 9/1/2010 8/31/2011 layer selection pressures Weigang Qiu Hunter College, City University Bioinformatics: building a novel and 10/1/2010 6/30/2011 of New York effective career path to evolutionary biology Dena Smith University of Colorado Evolution of the Coleoptera: 7/1/2011 1/1/2012 A Paleontological Perspective POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW Josh R Auld NESCent Evaluating the effects of inbreeding 10/1/2009 7/30/2011 on dispersal Carlos A Botero NESCent Evolution of conventional signals: from 1/1/2009 12/31/2011 individuals to populations and back Trina E Roberts NESCent Sticky tips and misplaced roots: is there a 8/1/2008 7/31/2011 bias in intraspecific phylogenetics? Julie A NESCent Competition, guild structure and evolution 8/1/2009 7/31/2012 Meachen-Samuels in the carnivora Benjamin D Redelings NESCent Improved probalistic models of insertion/ 9/1/2009 8/31/2012 deletion for phylogenetic inference Liam J Revell NESCent Process and pattern in the phylogenetic 8/1/2009 1/15/2011 analysis of comparative data Juan C Santos NESCent Multivariate evolutionary analysis: 10/1/2009 9/30/2012 integrating structural equation modeling and phylogenetics Gregor Yanega NESCent A comparative phylogenetic approach to the 8/1/2009 7/30/2011 study of insular avian phenotypes Peter J Unmack NESCent A gis based approach to a a priori prediction 8/1/2010 7/31/2012 in aquatic biogeography Jenny L McGuire NESCent Examining paleontological extinction 9/1/2010 8/31/2012 patterns to predict modern extinction vulnerability Jennifer Verdolin NESCent Integrating behavioral syndromes into 9/1/2010 8/31/2012 social networks: optimal distribution of phenotypes and group stability Clinton D Francis NESCent Acoustic signal space conservatism: a 1/1/2011 1/1/2013 framework for signal flexibility in noise Rafael F Rubio de Casas NESCent Dispersal evolution in the angiosperms: the 5/1/2010 4/30/2012 origin of heterocarpy Adam Smith NESCent Evaluating Effects of Temporal 9/1/2011 9/1/2013 Distribution of Fossil Calibrations on Divergence Analyses Name Institution Project Title Start Date End Date POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW (continued)
Paul G Hamik NESCent Ecological controls on evolutionary 9/1/2011 9/1/2011 rates in marine systems Kate Hertweck NESCent Comparative biology of transposable 8/8/2011 8/8/2013 element proliferation Mira Han NESCent Gene evolution in genomic context: 9/1/2011 9/1/2013 Integrating genomic location into gene evolution models Tami Cruickshank NESCent Population genetics of maternal effects and 10/1/2011 10/1/2013 their influence on molecular evolution SHORT-TERM VISITOR Matina Kalcounis- UNC Greensboro Potential for peripheral populations to 10/1/2010 12/31/2010 Ruppell mitigate core extinctions: bats and white nose syndrome Ryan Calsbeek Dartmouth College The adaptive landscape in evolutionary 11/1/2010 2/28/2011 biology
Louise Comas University of California-Davis Character evolution in root systems of 1/31/2011 2/11/2011 woody plants
Diddahally Govindaraju Boston University Signatures of multilevel selection in 4/4/2011 7/1/2011 human health Olav Rueppell University of North Carolina- The influence of genetic architecture on 1/25/2011 4/25/2011 Greensboro the effect of sex and recombination on genotypic offspring diversity
Pam Soltis University of Florida Reconstructing the Great Tree of Life 9/1/2011 11/30/2011
Douglas Soltis University of Florida Reconstructing the Great Tree of Life 9/1/2011 11/30/2011
Rebecca Safran University of Colorado An integrative evolutionary approach to 6/6/2011 6/10/2011 examine sexual selection as a mechanism of speciation Carl Simpson Museum fuer Naturkunde, Understanding the role of coloniality and 6/1/2011 9/1/2011 Leibniz Institute at the Humboldt photosymbiosis in coral macroevolution University Berlin WORKING GROUP
Alexei Drummond University of Auckland Software for bayesian evolutionary analysis 6/1/2009 3/31/2011 Marc Suchard University of California-LA by sampling trees Andrew Rambaut University of Edinburgh Margaret Hall Midwestern University Evolutionary shifts in vertebrate visual 6/1/2009 3/31/2011 Andrew Iwaniuk Canadian Centre for Behavioural ecology and visual system morphology Christopher Heesy Neuroscience Midwestern University Courtney Murren College of Charleston Costs of phenotypic plasticity and 6/1/2009 3/31/2011 Carl Schlichting University of Connecticut adaptation to novel environments Rebecca Safran University of Colorado An integrative evolutionary approach to 6/1/2009 3/31/2011 Albert Uy Syracuse University examine sexual selection as a mechanism of speciation Kathleen Donohue Duke University Germination, trait coevolution, and niche 11/1/2009 10/31/2011 Rafael F Rubio de Casas Duke University limits in changing environments
Erika J Edwards Brown University Grass phylogeny working group ii: inferring 11/1/2009 10/31/2011 Stephen Smith NESCent the complex history of c4 photosynthesis Nicolas Salamin University of Lausane in grasses
Norman Johnson Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst Communicating the relevance of human 11/1/2009 10/31/2011 James J Smith Michigan State University evolution Louise S Mead National Center for Science Edu.
David Wilson Binghampton University Integrating evolutionary theory with 5/1/2010 4/30/2012 John Gowdy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute behavioral economics Name Institution Project Title Start Date End Date WORKING GROUP (continued)
Michael Gavin Victoria University of Wellington Modeling the diversification of human 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 languages
Paul G Hamik Stanford University Determinants of extinction in ancient and 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 Seth Finnegan California Institute of Technology modern seas Rowan Lockwood College of William and Mary
Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University Integrative models of vertebrate sociality: 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 Steven Phelps University of Texas, Arlington evolution, mechanism and emergent Nancy Solomon Miami University properties Eileen Lacey University of California, Berkeley
Rebecca Price University of Washington-Bothell Evocci toolkit: concept inventories to assess 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 Kathryn Perez University of Wisonsin at La Crosse conceptual understanding of evolution
Daniel Ksepka North Carolina State University Synthesizing and databasing fossil 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 James Parham Alabama Museum of National calibrations: divergence dating and beyond History, University of Alabama
Colin P Osborne University of Sheffield Origins of c4 grasslands: a new synthesis of 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 Caroline A E Stromberg University of Washington phylogeny, ecology and paleobiology Christopher Still University of California- Santa Barbara David Wilson Binghampton University Evolutionary mismatch and what 10/10/2010 10/10/2012 to do about it
William Cornwell UC Berkeley Tempo and mode of plant trait 12/1/2010 12/1/2012 Stephen Smith Brown University evolution: synthesizing data from Amy Zane Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis extant and extinct taxa
Jennifer Fewell Arizona State University Large-scale demographic, network and 5/1/2011 4/30/2013 James H Hunt North Carolina State University behavioral trait analyses of sociality Dustin Rubenstein Columbia University
Doris Bachtrog University of CA-Berkeley The tree of sex–a comprehensive synthesis 5/1/2011 4/30/2013 Judith Mank University of Oxford of sex determination systems in eukaryotes Catherine Peichel Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Arlin Stoltzfus Center for Advanced Research HIP: Hackathons, Interoperability, 5/1/2011 4/30/2013 Rutger Vos in Biotechnology Phylogenies Enrico Pontelli University of Reading New Mexico State University Appendix J: Projects Supported in Year 7 (Project Titles Are Hyperlinks)
CATALYSIS MEETING
Sarah Teichmann Modeling protein structural and energetic constraints on sequence evolution David Liberles
Quentin Cronk Evolutionary Origins and Development of Woody Plants Andrew Groover
Hamish Spencer An integrative understanding of the evolution of genomic imprinting Francisco Ubeda Jason Wolf Cynthia Riginos The Molecular Ecology and Evolution of the Indo-Pacific: A Collaborative Research Network Eric Crandall
JOURNALIST IN RESIDENCE
Molly Samuel Shipwrecked on Dry Land: a documentary for public radio
LONG-TERM SABBATICAL
Dena Smith Evolution of the Coleoptera: A Paleontological Perspective
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
Kate Hertweck Comparative biology of transposable element proliferation
Adam Smith Evaluating Effects of Temporal Distribution of Fossil Calibrations on Divergence
Mira Han Gene evolution in genomic context: Integrating genomic location into gene evolution models
Tami Cruickshank Population genetics of maternal effects and their influence on molecular evolution
Robert Lanfear Synthesizing methods and data to understand the mutational processes that shape genomes
Paul G Hamik Ecological controls on evolutionary rates in marine systems
Elizabeth J Sbrocco Exploring environmental correalates of range limits across a marine biodiversity hotspot
SHORT-TERM VISITOR
Rebecca Safran An Integrative Evolutionary Approach to Examine Sexual Selection as a Mechanism of Speciation
Pam Soltis Reconstructing the Great Tree of Life
Douglas Soltis Reconstructing the Great Tree of Life
Carl Simpson Understanding the role of coloniality and photosymbiosis in coral macroevolution
WORKING GROUP
Catherine Peichel The tree of sex—a comprehensive synthesis of sex determination systems in eukaryotes Judith Mank Doris Bachtrog
Dustin Rubenstein Large-scale demographic, network and behavioral trait analyses of sociality James H Hunt Jennifer Fewell
Rutger Vos HIP: Hackathons, Interoperability, Phylogenies Enrico Pontelli Arlin Stoltzfus