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Why did a frozen Earth coincide with an evolutionary spurt?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 17:39:03 +0000

Why did a frozen Earth coincide with an evolutionary spurt? Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/08/2024 - 11:39

Clint Talbott

CU Boulder geologists Lizzy Trower and Carl Simpson win $1 million in support from W.M. Keck Foundation to try to solve an evolutionary puzzle and to extend Earth’s temperature record by 2 billion years

What happened during the “Snowball Earth” period is perplexing: Just as the planet endured about 100 million years of deep freeze, with a thick layer of ice covering most of Earth and with low levels of atmospheric oxygen, forms of multicellular life emerged.

Lizzy Trower (top) and Carl Simpson. Trower image courtesy of Lizzy Trower; Simpson photo by CU photographer Glenn Asakawa. At the top of the page: A screen capture from a video of algae clumping together in Simpson's lab. Video by Andrea Halling.

Why? The prevailing scientific view is that such frigid temperatures would slow rather than speed evolution. But fossil records from 720 to 635 million years ago show an evolutionary spurt preceding the development of animals. Two University of Colorado Boulder scientists aim to help solve this puzzle.

If they succeed, they would not only help unravel an evolutionary mystery, but also extend the temperature record of Earth by 2 billion years.

Carl Simpson, a macroevolutionary paleobiologist at CU Boulder, has found evidence that cold seawater could have jump-started—rather than suppressed—evolution from single-celled to multicellular life forms. But to demonstrate that very cold temperatures could have sped up evolution, he needs an accurate temperature record from that period.

Temperature records using existing methods are accurate only to 500 million years ago. That could change, though: Lizzy Trower, a chemical sedimentologist, has developed a novel method of measuring global temperature from 500 million to 2.5 billion years ago.

Together, Trower and Simpson hope to test Simpson’s hypothesis against temperature records from Trower’s novel tool, and they recently won a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to do so.

Both the fossil record and calculations based on a “DNA clock”—which calculates the age of current organisms based on the rate of mutations over eons—indicate that multicellular organisms emerged during Snowball Earth.

Simpson, who is an assistant professor of geological sciences and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the CU Museum of Natural History, has spent a lot of time since coming to CU Boulder trying to understand the connection between extreme, prolonged cold and evolution. He describes a breakthrough stemming from a “knuckleheaded” approach: “trying to imagine what the unicellular ancestor of an animal would have been experiencing” during Snowball Earth.

During this “cold, salty and dark” period, there would have been up to a kilometer of ice at the Equator, and liquid water below the ice would have been very cold, about -5 degrees C (about 23 degrees F).

“One thing that you learn about small organisms from a physics point of view is that they don't experience the world the same way that we do, as larger-bodied organisms,” Simpson said. Unicellular organisms are affected by the viscosity, or thickness, of sea water.

The increase in viscosity—which increases as water temperature falls—could yield an evolutionary advantage to those single-celled organisms that clumped together, using their combined propulsion efforts to their mutual advantage. In his laboratory, Simpson and colleagues have found that a type of green algae responds as he hypothesized it would.

[video:https://youtu.be/nALI-c0fMzE]

Video of algae clumping together in Simpson's lab. Credit: Andrea Halling

“And basically, that would trigger the origin of animals, potentially,” he said.

How cold was it?

However, there is uncertainty about how cold it was and how much that cold varied during Snowball Earth. Current methods suggest that the average global temperature in this period was about 20 degrees C, or 68 degrees F, levels that wouldn’t turn the planet into a snowball. That’s where Trower comes in.

Trower, an associate professor of geological sciences, studies grains of sand made from calcium carbonate and called ooids. These sand grains can gather material and get larger as they roll around, “as opposed to any other type of sand grain, which generally just gets smaller the more it’s transported around,” she said.

Trower’s idea was to explore whether the size of ooids could reveal things about the environments in which they formed. Ooids are affected by two kinds of processes: physical and chemical.

Physically, the sand grains are abraded as they roll around and collide with other grains. These abrasions and collisions make the grains shrink.

Chemically, the sand grains can grow with the precipitation of new minerals. Originally, Trower framed these reactions as reflecting the seawater in which they’re forming. “So, for example, if it's more super-saturated with respect to these calcium carbonate minerals, then the rate of mineral precipitation is faster, and that might explain why you would get ooids that are larger.”

But her calculations based on water viscosity didn’t suggest that ooids would grow as large as they did during Snowball Earth. Giant ooids from this period have been found in some places worldwide. Trower is focusing on a form of calcium carbonate called ikaite, which forms only in very cold conditions and which was discovered in a Norwegian fjord.

The ooids built on these rare, cold-loving carbonate minerals can grow comparatively large, greater than 2 millimeters in diameter. Trower notes that ooids of this size and composition form only in certain temperatures; thus, the diameter of these ooids could be a proxy measurement of Earth’s temperature for the last 2.5 billion years.

Answering a big question

With funding from the W.M. Keck Foundation, Trower, Simpson and colleagues will collect giant ooid samples from around the world, measure them and analyze the samples to determine the nature of minerals they were originally composed of.

[video:https://youtu.be/DXFoPfgZeUw?si=21esyxav-wIGrWRO]

Watch Lizzy Trower's talk, “Science Perseverance: What I Learned about Being a Scientist from a Grain of Sand,” in which she tells the story of her love for ooids, her journey from curious student to accomplished researcher, and the unexpected lessons learned along the way.

“That, in turn, can tell us something about the chemistry and water temperature in which they formed,” Trower said, noting that those results would be compared against the physical record.

The goal is to answer a big question: “Does the fossil record agree with the predictions we would make based on this theory from this new record of temperature?”

Undertaking such potentially ground-breaking research is both nerve-wracking and also quite exciting, Simpson and Trower said.

Anne Sheehan, professor and chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, praised the scientists: “The project benefits not only from the talent and creativity of Trower and Simpson but also from their willingness to step outside of their disciplines and take risks. This work exemplifies how cross-disciplinary collaboration can push the boundaries of Earth science and drive groundbreaking discoveries.”

Nancy J. Stevens, professor and research institute director of the CU Natural History Museum, observed: “The origin of complex multicellular life is an exciting puzzle to solve, and it would be remiss not to point out how Trower and Simpson have selected a topic and approach that mirror the contemporary research landscape. Organisms able to join forces to unlock new solutions can navigate challenging environments, and ultimately evolve and thrive.”

Trower and Simpson’s work also has potential implications for the human quest to find life elsewhere in the universe, Trower said. If extremely harsh and cold environments can spur evolutionary change, “then that is a really different type of thing to look for in exoplanets (potentially life-sustaining planets in other solar systems), or think about when and where (life) would exist.”

Based in Los Angeles, the W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by the late W. M. Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Co. The Foundation’s grant making is focused primarily on pioneering efforts in the areas of medical research, science and engineering and undergraduate education. The Foundation also maintains a Southern California Grant Program that provides support for the Los Angeles community, with a special emphasis on children and youth. For more information, please visit www.wmkeck.org.

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CU Boulder professor recognized for work to build ‘the beloved community’

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 20:26:11 +0000

CU Boulder professor recognized for work to build ‘the beloved community’ Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/18/2024 - 14:26

Rachel Sauer

Boulder Chamber honors Reiland Rabaka with Impact Award at 2024 Celebration of Leadership

Reiland Rabaka believes in the beloved community.

An idea that originated with Harvard University philosopher Josiah Royce and was embraced and expanded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it guides Rabaka’s vision and work, including the founding of the University of Colorado Boulder Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS) more than a year ago.

In recognition of that work, the Boulder Chamber presented Rabaka, a CU Boulder professor of ethnic studies, the 2024 Impact Award at its Celebration of Leadership Wednesday evening. The Impact Award “is presented in recognition of an individual or local company that makes significant contributions to their industry, environmental stewardship, and/or social sustainability within the Boulder community,” the Boulder Chamber noted.

The award honors the establishment of the CAAAS and “his role in conceiving and developing this welcoming and vibrant space for Black students, staff, faculty, alumni and allies. The CAAAS also has been a source of pride and optimism throughout the Black community in and around Boulder.”

Reiland Rabaka (right) accepts the Boulder Chamber Impact Award Wednesday evening while John Tayer (left), Boulder Chamber CEO and president, looks on. (Photo: Casey Cass/CU Boulder)

It also celebrates Rabaka’s vision for building a beloved community in Boulder, “where Latinx folk, Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans and European Americans finally come together and work together to rescue and reclaim our humanity and achieve a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious American democracy,” Rabaka said while accepting the award.

“Let’s make Martin Luther King’s dream a reality by building the beloved community right here, right now in Boulder, Colorado.”

Standing in sincere solidarity

Introducing Rabaka, Ann Cooper, a longtime Boulder community activist, emphasized that Rabaka is “a visionary leader whose impact extends far beyond the boundaries of academia. The CAAAS center at CU a testament to the culmination of numerous aspirations finds their beating heart in the tireless efforts of Dr. Rabaka. It is evident that the CAAAS has become more than just a physical space; it is a sanctuary of belonging, community and culture for Black students, sending waves of pride and optimism throughout the Black community in and around Boulder.”

She added that before CAAAS was established, Boulder “may have felt like a place where few Black individuals, especially young people, could find a sense of comfort and acceptance. Dr. Rabaka’s profound impact lies in creating joyful and welcoming spaces for Black students. CAAAS was necessary in a community where inclusivity is a crucial top of discussion.”

That commitment to inclusivity is central to Rabaka’s vision of a beloved community: “I dream of a world that is committed to acknowledging and honoring the lives, struggles and leadership of the most marginalized among us, including, but not limited to, those who are girls and women, queer and trans, formerly and currently incarcerated, poor and working class, disabled and differently abled, undocumented and immigrant,” he said.

“The beloved community is committed to equal access to education and health care, to food justice, to animal rights and the preservation of plant life and to open and honest conversation about climate change and environmental racism and their devastating impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable among us. There can be no liberation for any of us if we do not center and fight for those who continue to be marginalized and exploited.”

Rabaka called on those attending the Celebration of Leadership—the beloved community members—to stand in sincere solidarity “with all oppressed, exploited, and racially colonized people who are fighting for their liberation” and to be bridges “for those that claim to be our allies and help them evolve into our advocates, and I believe I’m with some advocates in here today.

“Another way and another world is possible, but only if we are willing to work for it, only if we are willing to commit ourselves to making whatever sacrifices are necessary to bring the beloved community into being.”

Click the button below to hear Reiland Rabaka discuss community, art and many other topics on The Ampersand, the College of Arts and Sciences podcast.

Listen to The Ampersand

Top image: Reiland Rabaka accepts the Boulder Chamber Impact Award. (Photo: Casey Cass/CU Boulder)

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Boulder Chamber honors Reiland Rabaka with Impact Award at 2024 Celebration of Leadership.

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Scientist gleans human lessons from bacterial immune systems

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 18:56:40 +0000

Scientist gleans human lessons from bacterial immune systems Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/01/2024 - 11:56

Rachel Sauer

CU Boulder PhD student Emily Kibby has won the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award in recognition of her work researching bacterial immune responses

There are certain advantages to being a one-celled organism with no nucleus. In general, reproduction happens fast, and thus evolution does, too.

Take bacteria, for example: A bacterium can be invaded by a phage, which is a virus that infects and replicates only in bacterial cells, and within several generations—which can emerge in a single day—the bacteria may have evolved immunity to that virus.

“We’re so evolutionarily outclassed by bacteria,” says Emily Kibby, a PhD candidate in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Biochemistry and member of the Aaron Whiteley Research Group. “They can evolve so much faster, and they’re the real biochemical innovators of life on this planet. I think we have so much to learn from them.”

CU Boulder PhD candidate Emily Kibby has been recognized with the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award for outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences.

In fact, since joining Whiteley’s research group in 2020 for her graduate studies, that’s exactly what Kibby has done—work to understand how eukaryotes (organisms whose cells contain a nucleus encased in a membrane), including humans, have acquired and adapted bacterial immune proteins for their own purposes.

Her work recently was recognized with the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, given by the Fred Hutch Cancer Center to honor outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences. Kibby and her fellow winners were chosen for the quality, originality and scientific significance of their research and will be honored at a symposium May 3 in Seattle.

“Emily is highly deserving of the Weintraub award because she is a dedicated scientist whose fearlessness and innovative thinking have allowed her to open new research areas in my lab,” says Aaron Whiteley, a CU Boulder assistant professor of biochemistry.

“One of the most impressive aspects of her thesis work was a decision in her fourth year to undertake a new project in computational biology. She demonstrated independence and resourcefulness, seeking out necessary expertise from other investigators and in the literature. It can be very hard to break into new disciplines, and I am extremely proud of her accomplishments. I expect nothing short of amazing things to come!”

Bacterial origins

Kibby credits excellent AP biology and AP chemistry teachers at her Wisconsin high school with nurturing her ever-growing interest in science. It also helps that both of her parents are teachers, she says.

So, when she was considering what to study as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College, “I decided to head down the middle between biology and chemistry,” she says. “I’ve just always been fascinated by the molecular mechanisms that make life possible. We have this incredible amount of molecular detail on cellular processes, but there’s still so much more to learn. That’s always what’s been so exciting to me, that we know so much but there’s this vast amount still to learn.”

She fell in love with bacteria during her undergraduate summers working in Helen Blackwell’s lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where an aim is to devise novel chemical tools to decode and interfere with bacterial communication pathways.

After joining the Whiteley Lab, Kibby delved into research about bacterial immune systems and host-pathogen interactions. In studying the constant conflict between bacteria and phages, Kibby explored the wide range of immune pathways bacteria use to counter phage infection.

Kibby and her research colleagues homed in on proteins containing a NACHT module, which are present not only in prokaryotic bacteria, but in eukaryotic cells as well. These genetic overlaps demonstrate that elements of the human immune system originated in bacteria, Kibby says.

I’ve just always been fascinated by the molecular mechanisms that make life possible. We have this incredible amount of molecular detail on cellular processes, but there’s still so much more to learn."

“Rather than NACHT modules evolving out of thin air, it’s more likely they came to us from bacteria,” she explains. “At some point early in the history of human evolution, an ancient eukaryote interacted with a bacterial cell that had evolved this type of immunity and was able to adopt that for its own protection.”

The incredible diversity of bacteria

After four years of research, Kibby and her colleagues published their findings about how these bacterial proteins protect against phage. She then pivoted to research using AlphaFold Multimer to predict protein-protein interactions: “I shifted to this new approach in part because our mammalian NACHT proteins that have this great example of recognizing specific proteins,” Kibby says. “So, I thought I would learn something new and see if I could use computational tools to predict similar interactions in bacteria.”

AlphaFold Multimer is a tool that emerged from Google DeepMind, one of Google’s artificial intelligence think tanks, and has proven extremely good at predicting the structures of proteins from just an amino acid sequence, for example. It also can predict the interactions between multiple different proteins.

After learning the computational underpinnings of these predictions, Kibby is now doing lab work with actual proteins to determine whether the predictions are correct—do the proteins actually do what the computer says they will?

“I hope what we’re doing now helps set a standard for how to integrate protein predictions with wet lab validation,” Kibby says. “AlphaFold Multimer is really just another screening tool. It’s amazing and it’s shattering all the barriers of what we had been able to do before, but you will always have to have your controls and always have to validate your hits.”

In the midst of this research, Kibby hopes to defend her thesis in September and receive her PhD in December. She then aims to do postdoctoral research and ultimately earn a role at a university that allows her to research and teach, because guiding people through the fascinating universe of bacteria is one of her passions.

“The way I explain it is, everything is infected by viruses, and we have evolved number of ways to protect ourselves from these threats,” she says. “A lot of times, we think of bacteria as threats to our own immune system, and that’s true, they can be. But bacteria are also threatened by virus, and just like us, to protect themselves they have also evolved immune systems.

“If you look at CRISPR, for example, it’s revolutionizing medicine and research, but in the wild CRISPR is a bacterial immune system that protects bacteria from phages. There are very practical human applications for understanding the incredible diversity of bacteria.”

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CU Boulder PhD student Emily Kibby has won the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award in recognition of her work researching bacterial immune responses.

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Biochemist wins Cogswell Award for Inspirational Teaching

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 23:51:37 +0000

Biochemist wins Cogswell Award for Inspirational Teaching Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/23/2024 - 16:51

Amy Palmer, professor of biochemistry, recognized for revamping classroom experiences, championing diversity and striving to connect with students ‘beyond the course curriculum’

Amy Palmer, a biochemistry professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, has won the 2024 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction.

Supported by a generous donation from Craig Cogswell, a three-time alumnus of CU Boulder, the award recognizes outstanding instruction in the college, honoring individuals for their inspirational qualities and teaching abilities.

Palmer, who is faculty director of the Honors Program, joined the CU Boulder faculty in 2005. She holds a bachelor’s in chemistry from Dartmouth College, a master’s in education from Stanford University, and a PhD in biophysical chemistry from Stanford.

Amy Palmer (second from left), a CU Boulder professor of biochemistry and the 2024 Cogswell Award winner, met with students in Mumbai, India, in January. (Photo: Amy Palmer)

In letters of nomination, her students and colleagues praised her for adopting state-of-the-art science-teaching methods, launching a new biochemistry seminar course for first-year students, transforming how traditional courses are taught, and advancing the diversity of student populations.

Moreover, they said she genuinely cares about students, striving to get to know them personally and “connect with them beyond the course curriculum.”

“Professor Palmer is a phenomenal teacher and universally praised by students from all levels at CU for her outstanding teaching pedagogy, her commitment to students and her inspirational character,” four of her colleagues wrote.

In his nomination letter, one former student said: "The dedication she demonstrates through meticulously planned lessons, coupled with a dynamic teaching style, makes her classes both enjoyable and academically enriching. What truly distinguishes Amy is her inspirational impact on students. She goes beyond imparting knowledge; she instills a sense of curiosity and a desire for academic excellence. Amy's passion for the subject matter is infectious, motivating students to explore beyond the confines of the curriculum and develop a deeper understanding of the material."

A dedication to teaching

Another former student, now a PhD candidate at Harvard University, wrote that Palmer had inspired her inside and outside of the classroom. Several connections and collaborations resulted from Palmer’s “admirable generosity with her time,” the student said, adding:

“When I first met Professor Palmer, I was primarily interested in pursuing a career in medicine, but after engaging with Dr. Palmer and hearing about her training and current career, I was inspired to consider and ultimately pursue further training in academia. The lasting impact of Dr. Palmer’s guidance and inspiration on my training as a scientist cannot be overstated; it drives me forward still today.”

Teaching and mentoring students are two of my career passions. The opportunity to work with undergraduates and try to transform how we teach science is what drove me to become a professor. It is so rewarding to hear from students that this has had an impact on them.”

Given her accomplishments and praise from such students, her colleagues said, “It is no wonder that Professor Palmer is one of the most admired faculty members among our student body.”

Palmer said she was “deeply touched and honored” for both the nomination and the award. “Teaching and mentoring students are two of my career passions. The opportunity to work with undergraduates and try to transform how we teach science is what drove me to become a professor. It is so rewarding to hear from students that this has had an impact on them.”

Cogswell earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1970, followed by master’s degrees in education in 1979 and in educational psychological studies in 1984.

Cogswell retired from a long career as a high school social studies teacher, corporate educator and young-teacher mentor. He was named Colorado Teacher of the Year in 2000.

“I think university instructors always have the dilemma that their primary focus is research or writing, things like that,” he told the Colorado Arts and Sciences magazine in 2017. “To me, at the university level, when someone really works hard on being a dynamic, interesting or challenging teacher, that is something that should be acknowledged and rewarded.”

He said he is “overwhelmed” by the Palmer’s record, adding: “Professor Amy Palmer richly deserves the recognition. She is clearly a knowledgeable and innovative teacher, creating new courses and learning structures. Her ability to engage students in a meaningful way with difficult concepts is a special gift.

“More importantly to me, she has encouraged and supported her students with a variety of opportunities that address different learning styles and needs,” Cogswell said, adding that she shows “that special combination of energy, enthusiasm and talent that demonstrate teaching at its best.”

Top image: Amy Palmer and (background) a hippocampal neuron expressing a zinc FRET sensor (Image by Lynn Sanford of the Palmer Lab)

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Amy Palmer, professor of biochemistry, recognized for revamping classroom experiences, championing diversity and striving to connect with students ‘beyond the course curriculum.’

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Crunching numbers isn’t enough; you also have to explain results

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:31:59 +0000

Crunching numbers isn’t enough; you also have to explain results Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/19/2023 - 08:31

Rachel Sauer

CU Boulder researcher Eric Vance recently won the W.J. Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting, in recognition of his work to help statisticians and data scientists become better communicators

The skills of statistics and data science are broad and varied, requiring those who use them not only to ask the right questions and capture the right data, but to process and analyze it and then convey what they discovered.

�鶹��Ժ of statistics and data science are taught methods and modeling, they’re taught to code and to troubleshoot, “but how do we teach students in statistics and data science to become more effective collaborators?” asks Eric Vance, a University of Colorado Boulder associate professor of applied mathematics.

“The thing about modern statistics is that almost anybody can upload an Excel spreadsheet to a statistical software program, do some stuff and get answers. You can have people who understand data, who understand methods and the appropriate conditions to use those methods. But what we want is to grow the number of well-trained data scientists who understand that the context of data matters and who also have that drive to see their work put into action for the benefit of society and know how to collaborate to make that happen.”

Eric Vance (center), a CU Boulder associate professor of applied mathematics, is a Fulbright fellow in Indonesia for the 2023-24 academic year. He’s working with colleagues at IPB University to develop a course in effective statistics and data science collaboration

For most of his career, Vance has recognized that it’s not enough to be good at statistics and data science—students entering these fields must also learn communication and project-management skills to become effective collaborators. He has designed curricula and academic programs that promote this goal, work that recently was recognized with the American Statistical Association’s W.J. Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting.

The award recognizes individuals who have “demonstrated excellence in statistical consulting or developed and contributed new methods, software or ways of thinking that improve statistical practice in general.”

As the youngest winner by at least 15 years, Vance is in the middle rather than at the close of his career, “which is good because there’s still a lot I want to do to translate my framework for collaboration into different languages and cultures, and to build it up across disciplines.”

Doing good with data

Since the beginning of Vance’s academic career, which started as director of the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis at Virginia Tech, “I noticed that my students were really good in statistical methods, but only some of them were really good in the non-technical skills, the communication skills,” he says.

“Part of my job was also to teach statistical consulting, so I started to think about what are the key aspects that a student needs to know, that a student can learn to become an effective, collaborative statistician?”

Good data scientists have a deep store of quantitative skills, he says, and many enter the field because they want to work with real data and pursue projects that help society and benefit humanity. Plus, in this hyper-plugged-in world, data are everywhere—powerful data in huge datasets with the potential to have sweeping effects. The demand for people who can analyze data properly and leverage them appropriately is growing.

“But what I noticed is kind of holding statisticians and scientists back is not technical skills—it’s not that they don’t know the latest analysis technique—but it’s that they don’t have the communication skills,” Vance says. “That became my focus: What is it that a student or a data scientist needs to know to effectively unlock the technical skills to do the most good?”

At CU Boulder, Vance established and directs the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), housed in the Department of Applied Mathematics, to teach students “to become effective interdisciplinary collaborators who can apply statistical analysis and data science to enable and accelerate research on campus and making data-driven business decisions and policy interventions in the community.”

Vance explains that often statisticians and data scientists are not the ones collecting the data they analyze, so “if we want to develop new methods, we need to have data, and who has data? Everybody else. Domain experts are everywhere around world, so statistics and data science should be collaborative disciplines, and students should learn to work with a chemist or a biologist or an English professor or an elected official to help them think about what kind of data they have, help them collect high-quality data and transform into policy and action.”

More than just good with data

Vance and his colleagues have built LISA into the center of the global LISA 2020 Global Network of statics labs that aim to strengthen local capacity in statistical analysis and data science and to transform academic evidence into action for development.

You can’t just be good with data anymore; you have to be able to communicate why it matters.”

The LISA 2020 Global Network comprises 35 statistics labs in 10 countries, including Nigeria, Brazil and Pakistan. Vance is now a Fulbright fellow in Indonesia, where he’s working with colleagues at IPB University to develop a course in effective statistics and data science collaboration and establish a new statistics and data science collaboration center.

Several years ago, Vance and research colleague Heather Smith developed the ASCCR framework—which stands for attitude, structure, content, communication and relationship—to support this model of statistics and data science education that incorporates collaboration skills. Vance’s work in Indonesia is also exploring how to adapt ASCCR within different cultural contexts.

“We want statistics and data science students around the world to have the skills to collaborate and communicate with domain experts,” Vance says. “Maybe it’s a researcher around campus, maybe a local policy maker, maybe a local businessperson—anybody who has data and wants to be able to do something with the data, make a decision based on the data or come to some conclusion.

“We want students to become people who can talk with a domain expert to understand what the problem is, what the data are, how they were collected, the provenance of the data, and then figure out what that the domain expert actually wants to do with the data. That means understanding the workflow of collaboration before actually analyzing the data and coming up with some statistical results. Then they need to translate those results to answer the original research question or come up with a conclusion and recommendations for action. You can’t just be good with data anymore; you have to be able to communicate why it matters.”

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Science-education experts recognized for ground-breaking work

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 16:22:07 +0000

Science-education experts recognized for ground-breaking work Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/13/2023 - 10:22

CU Boulder professors Noah Finkelstein of physics and Valerie Otero of education have won the 2023 Svend Pedersen Award and Lecture from Stockholm University

Two experts in science education at the University of Colorado Boulder have won the Svend Pedersen Award and Lecture of 2023 for their “major and lasting” contribution to science education, Stockholm University has announced.

Noah Finkelstein, professor of physics, and Valerie Otero, professor of science education, share the 2023 award and are planning to deliver a joint lecture in Sweden early next year.

Stockholm University bestows the Svend Pedersen Award and Lecture annually to a researcher who has made a “major and lasting contribution” within the fields of mathematics education or science education internationally.

The award, which was unsolicited, recognizes their joint contribution to “teacher education praxis.” The cross-disciplinary collaboration between physics and education “led to the development of the highly influential and successful Learning Assistant Program,” Stockholm University said.

Noah Finkelstein and Valerie Otero

“Finkelstein and Otero are both leading researchers in physics/science education, and both their individual and collaborative work has gained recognition internationally and inspired researchers at the Department of Teaching and Learning at Stockholm University,” the award citation notes.

Finkelstein’s research focuses on university students’ interests and capacities in physics and also on educational transformations. Finkelstein is one of leads of the Physics Education Research (PER) group and was founding co-director, with Otero, of CU’s Center for STEM Learning.

Otero’s research focuses on the interplay of learning environments, instructional teams and materials that make learning more accessible. Otero is the faculty director and co-founder of CU Boulder’s Learning Assistant Program and the International Learning Assistant Alliance.

Finkelstein’s research projects range from the specifics of students’ learning particular concepts to the departmental and institutional scales of sustainable educational transformation. His research has yielded more than 150 publications.

He is increasingly involved in education policy and in 2010 testified before the U.S. Congress on the state of STEM education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He serves on many national boards, including chairing both the American Physical Society’s Committee on Education and PER Topical Group.

He is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Presidential Teaching Scholar and the inaugural Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador for the University of Colorado system.

Explaining his research focus, Finkelstein says, “At root, I see higher education as a fundamental public good—advancing the lives of individuals and capacities of our societies more broadly. In the long haul, I know of no better way to enhance societies and individuals' lives than to support the core missions of our colleges and universities, and to help them realize the promises that they hold toward these ends.”

He acknowledges that there is much work still to do. “And that's where I spend my time—through teaching and educational programs, through my research and scholarly work, and through my professional service efforts. I particularly focus on higher education—colleges and universities—as these are a tremendous resource and lever for change in our broader educational system.”

Partly in response to expert warnings that the nation was falling behind its international peers in science education, U.S. educators have in the past two decades renewed their focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM) education. This focus is reflected in levels of funding, national discourse, programs focused in STEM, numbers of students, diversity of students and even faculty hiring trends, Finkelstein says.

I see higher education as a fundamental public good—advancing the lives of individuals and capacities of our societies more broadly. In the long haul, I know of no better way to enhance societies and individuals' lives than to support the core missions of our colleges and universities, and to help them realize the promises that they hold toward these ends.”

“Two decades ago, it was far less common to find discipline-based education researchers—folks such as myself hired into disciplinary departments to conduct research on education from within,” he observes, adding that when he was hired in 2003, CU Boulder was “extremely forward-looking” in such a hire.

“Now it is both much more common and CU has established itself as an international leader in this space, boasting researchers across a wide array of disciplinary departments focusing on education and in schools of education focusing on undergraduate science learning,” he says.

Finkelstein also notes that educators have broadened goals in their courses “to focus on the whole array of learning and educational practice, rather than the initial staples of attending to students’ conceptual understanding and algorithmic capacities.”

Now, he adds, “we are attending to how students think about our fields; what habits of mind they are developing; how we build inclusive environments and support a sense of belonging among the breadth of learners; who we are not including and why.”

Additionally, educators have also moved way from viewing their jobs as “fixing students” or addressing their "deficiencies" and now place greater emphases on the “systems that our learners are participating in to support their substantial capacities.”

Otero is internationally recognized for her foundational work with the Learning Assistant (LA) model and the International LA Alliance. The LA model was established in 2001 when Otero was hired by the University of Colorado Boulder in STEM education and as the first physics education researcher at CU Boulder.

She is a President’s Teaching Scholar and served as an advisor for NASA, on committees for the National Academy of Science and is a fellow of the American Physical Society, which awarded her team the Excellence in Physics Education Award in 2019 for their work on the LA model.

The LA model improves student success by increasing the diversity of CU Boulder’s instructional teams through the inclusion of pedagogically trained undergraduate LAs. Otero’s team provides continuing development opportunities for professors and undergraduates, supporting their growth as educational leaders, mentors and state-of-the-art educational innovators.

“Working with LAs has helped me refresh my teaching strategies and resist the temptation to just do what's worked in the past,” a participating professor commented. “I enjoy helping LAs take on responsibility and gain confidence in their leadership skills, and in turn, this experience reminds me of the greater purpose and goals of education.”

LAs rarely provide direct instruction; instead, they facilitate group interactions, answer questions that students may be embarrassed to ask instructors and give general guidance such as how to study and where to find health care resources.

They relate to students, give them voice, care about them and help them learn. LAs plan and reflect with professors, providing information about how students are experiencing the course, bringing students closer to the professor, especially in large courses.

Learning Assistants maintain both a peer and educator role, which may allow the breaking down of psychological barriers in the minds of students due to formal boundaries, possibly preventing them from seeking help for fear of bothering the professor or appearing incompetent.”

participating LA observed, “LAs maintain both a peer and educator role, which may allow the breaking down of psychological barriers in the minds of students due to formal boundaries, possibly preventing them from seeking help for fear of bothering the professor or appearing incompetent.”

Today, approximately 400 LAs are hired each year at CU Boulder, serving more than 20,000 students each year. Research shows that students who have experienced a STEM course with LAs are 60% more likely to succeed in subsequent STEM courses. The model has caught on.

Universities all over the world have realized that the LA model can transform their institutions, building lasting capacity for sustained offerings of high-quality, learner-centered instruction.

In these settings, students feel included and valued and are comfortable accessing multiple forms of support in and outside of the classroom. The thousands of CU Boulder students who have served as LAs and LA mentors have become effective leaders, teachers and team members, prepared for the increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary workforce.

On Oct. 27, professors from universities around the world will come to CU Boulder, as they do each year, to learn about and share research regarding the LA model.

Otero founded the Learning Assistant Alliance in 2009, and since then, more than 3,000 professors from more than 560 universities and 28 countries have joined. Otero has been invited to Norway, Egypt, Japan and the United Kingdom to provide guidance and support for country-level adoptions of the LA Model.

Otero is also known for her foundational work with PEER Physics, a high school physics curriculum and teacher professional learning community adopted by high schools from Seattle to New York.

“We used to be gullible before this class, but now evidence has our backs,” a PEER Physics student said, while another noted, “This course has provided a very safe and helpful learning environment for me. This class is all about working with others and has really helped me learn the material—it has also lifted my spirits about the science subject in general.”

A PEER Physics teacher said, “PEER Physics gives ownership to students who haven’t had ownership in other science classrooms before. It empowers them to take charge of their own learning rather than just being fed information. I think it challenges their analytical skills.”

Another teacher said, “I think if the PEER Physics teacher community didn’t exist, I would have left education. This has kept me in, really enhanced my life, and the life of my students.”

Otero found empowerment and joy in physics when she took her first physics course at the University of New Mexico. “I always loved learning,” she says. “My dad always taught us that learning is a great privilege, and I committed my life to making positive learning opportunities available for students like me.”

As a first-generation college student, Otero has first-hand knowledge about how a Hispanic woman can navigate physics and academia and achieve great success through a supportive community like CU Boulder. Otero says that she developed leadership skills by working at her parents’ grocery store and at the New Mexico State Fair since she was 12.

Twenty-three years after starting at CU Boulder, she continues to work with the Learning Assistant Alliance and PEER Physics to find ways to include, rather than exclude, people from physics.

Did you enjoy this article? Subcribe to our newsletter. Want to learn more? View Otero's Ed Talk at this link.

CU Boulder professors Noah Finkelstein of physics and Valerie Otero of education have won the 2023 Svend Pedersen Award and Lecture from Stockholm University.

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Shemin Ge elected as fellow of American Geophysical Union

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 21:04:59 +0000

Shemin Ge elected as fellow of American Geophysical Union Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/14/2023 - 15:04

CU Boulder geological sciences professor is an expert on ‘induced seismicity,’ when earthquakes are triggered by energy development

Shemin Ge, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and an expert in how earthquakes can be triggered by human activity, has been elected as an American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Fellow, the union announced this week.

Shemin Ge

Ge is among 53 scholars in the 2023 Class of Fellows. AGU, the world's largest Earth and space sciences association, annually recognizes a select number of individuals for its highest honors. Since 1962, the AGU Union Fellows Committee has selected less than 0.1% of members as new fellows.

Ge was selected because of her outstanding scientific achievements, contributions to furthering scientific advancement and exemplary leadership, the organization said, adding that Ge also embodies AGU’s vision of a thriving, sustainable and equitable future powered by discovery, innovation and action.

Equally important, the AGU said, is that Ge works with integrity, respect and collaboration while creating deep engagement in education, diversity and outreach.

Ge is a hydrogeologist who studies groundwater in the Earth’s crust, with a focus on understanding how groundwater flow interacts with and is affected by other geologic processes and how theses interactions advance science and offer insights on societally relevant issues.

One focus of her research is the mechanical interaction between groundwater and rock deformation, which was motivated by an apparent spatial association between some mountain belts and ore deposits in foreland basins adjacent to those mountain belts.

Episodic orogenic deformation could drive mineral-bearing groundwater flow to concentrate ore deposits and enable secondary petroleum migration, Ge’s website notes. A new focus in groundwater-rock deformation research is to seek causal mechanisms for induced seismicity beneath dammed reservoirs and around deep wastewater disposal wells.

Another area of Ge’s research is studying the impact of climate change on groundwater resources, focusing on high-altitude regions where variations in temperature and precipitation are expected. Relying on the fundamental theory of energy and fluid transport in porous media, this research looks into snowmelt infiltrating seasonally frozen ground and permafrost into deeper subsurface and discharging back to surface waters downstream.

“I am deeply honored and extremely grateful for the support I have received from CU and many colleagues, as well as my fortune of working with a stream of bright students throughout the years,” Ge said.

“This recognition further inspires me to continue addressing emerging scientific challenges in water resources and natural or human-induced geohazards through research and teaching.”

Ge joined the CU Boulder faculty in 1993 and has been recognized with a 2019-20 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to study water-induced earthquakes in Hong Kong. She was named a fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2006, and she won the society’s O.E. Meinzer Award in 2018.

Ge holds a PhD in hydrogeology from Johns Hopkins University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in geotechnical engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and Wuhan University of Technology in Wuhan, China, respectively.

AGU will formally recognize this year’s recipients at AGU23, which in December will convene more than 25,000 attendees from over 100 countries in San Francisco and online.

AGU describes itself as a global community supporting more than half a million advocates and professionals in the Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values.

CU Boulder geological sciences professor is an expert on ‘induced seismicity,’ when earthquakes are triggered by energy development.

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Geography student wins geospatial intelligence scholarship

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 02:38:29 +0000

Geography student wins geospatial intelligence scholarship Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/07/2023 - 20:38

Christopher Picard of CU Boulder is one of 21 students nationwide to win support from United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

Christopher Picard, a graduate student in geography at the University of Colorado Boulder, is one of 21 students nationwide to win scholarships this year from the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), the foundation announced recently.

The USGIF’s 2023 scholarship awardees, who are studying geospatial intelligence and related fields, will receive a total of $125,000, raised from donations.

Ronda Schrenk, USGIF CEO, expressed her gratitude for the funding: “The support our community has shown for the scholarship program this year has been truly inspiring for us at the Foundation. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the organizational and individual donors who have enabled USGIF to maintain and expand this crucial program.”

Picard, who is pursuing a master's degree in geography from CU Boulder, is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where he received a BA in environmental Earth sciences.

Chris Picard

While an undergraduate, Picard had an internship at the U.S. National Ice Center, where he was introduced to remote sensing of the cryosphere and learned about the importance of geospatial research to national security.

That experience led Picard to apply remote sensing and other computational techniques to the study of current and future changes in Earth's high-latitude regions.

Picard said he was honored to win a 2023 graduate scholarship. “I want to thank the USGIF for supporting young geospatial researchers, as this financial assistance and connection to a broader community is massively impactful for students entering the field,” he said, adding:

“Financially, this scholarship is significant to me because it will provide important funding that will help support me during my graduate studies. In addition to financial assistance, I am looking forward to engaging with this new community in graduate school and during my career.”

The 21 awardees were selected by USGIF’s scholarship committee, a group of volunteers from the geospatial intelligence community who are dedicated to supporting the next generation of researchers. The recipients represent diverse academic backgrounds and personal experiences that are crucial to advancing the field, the foundation said.

The 2023 cohort’s expertise covers a broad range of geospatial intelligence enterprises, including:

Developing a deep-learning model to detect building damage after a natural disaster
Mapping sentiments and understanding bias in armed-conflict data
Monitoring sea ice in the Arctic region for national security purposes
Advancing landmine detection with remote-sensing and machine-learning techniques

While the awardees are studying at universities across the country, representing 20 different schools, they all share a driving desire to use geospatial intelligence to address critical national security concerns, solve complex global issues and serve their communities, the foundation said.

USGIF has awarded more than $1.7 million to students dedicated to advancing the geospatial intelligence tradecraft since the program started in 2004. Past awardees have gone on to serve as leaders at geospatial intelligence government agencies and companies, innovate at startups and small businesses and become professors.

“The impact of past USGIF scholarship awardees … never ceases to amaze me,” said USGIF Director of Education and Professional Development Christine Devine. “Watching them grow into leaders in the field and start to impact the world as they initially described in their applications is what the whole scholarship program is about.”

In addition to sponsorship from organizations, USGIF receives donations from individual geospatial intelligence community members committed to growing the future of the field.

Schrenk highlighted the significance of the scholarship program, stating: “By means of the scholarship program, USGIF can provide support to the most exceptional students aspiring to enter the geospatial intelligence field. This year, we received an unprecedented number of applications, and I am confident that the recipients will bring immeasurable value to our community.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subcribe to our newsletter. Passionate about geography? Show your support.

Christopher Picard of CU Boulder is one of 21 students nationwide to win support from United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

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Dean’s Innovation Fund awards $317,896 in grants

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 22:26:08 +0000

Dean’s Innovation Fund awards $317,896 in grants Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/12/2023 - 15:26

Inaugural group of proposals was ‘universally strong and worthy,’ Dean Glen Krutz notes

Dean Glen Krutz recently asked the college for innovative ideas, and this week he announced 17 winners of the first Dean’s Innovation Fund awards, with funding totaling $317,896, at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Krutz created the Dean’s Innovation Fund in late 2022 with the goal of funding new ideas and innovations for the college. He solicited proposals related to spawning new cross-disciplinary research projects, ventures to develop and retain faculty and staff, projects that link more strongly to the community, fresh thinking about how A&S might reduce its carbon footprint, and projects promoting justice, equity, diversity and inclusion efforts to improve student, staff and faculty access to and/or retention in A&S.

“I was thrilled with the applications we received in this first cycle of the A&S Dean’s Innovation Fund, which will be an annual process,” Krutz said, adding:

“We had an overwhelming response, with 74 completed applications from across the college. The response and the innovations were truly inspiring! The proposals were universally strong and worthy.” Selecting the initial slate of projects was extremely difficult, and the college encouraged applicants to reapply in the next cycle, Krutz said.

This year, one-time awards range from $2,500 to as much as $40,000.

Projects receiving 2023 funding from the Dean’s Innovation Fund are:

Uplift: A STEM Research Scholarship for Underprivileged Undergraduates at CU; submitted by Edward Chong and Lee Niswander: $40,000.
Creating a New Curriculum for Latinx in Colorado and Beyond; submitted by Leila Gomez, Arturo Adama, Gerardo Gutierrez, Natalie Avalos, Doris Loayza, Lorraine Bayard de Volo, Gabriela Rios, Jessica Ordaz, Betty Leonard, Celeste Montoya, Marcos Steuernagel, Tracy Quan, Kristie Soares, Elika Ortega, Maria Windell and Megan K. Friede: $40,000.
Racial Literacies; submitted by Kirk Ambrose, Jennifer Ho and John-Michael Rivera: $39,767.
Building Inclusive Pathways: A Collaboration Between MASP and the Natural Sciences, submitted by Celeste Montoya, Katherine Semsar and Stephanie Montoya: $39,560.
Belonging as a Protective Factor for Minoritized Identity �鶹��Ժ, submitted by Chelsea Killmnick, Donna Mejia, Teresa Wroe and Julie Volckens: $35,750.
Partnership with BVSD: Supporting and Mentoring �鶹��Ժ of Color, submitted by Aun H. Ali, Stephanie Su, Cecilia J. Pang, William Wei, Celine Dauverd, Kieran Marcellin Murphy, Enrique Sepulveda, Marissa Ehringer and Benjamin Brown: $35,500.
New Frontiers in Teaching Public Health: Innovative Course Design and Community Engagement in Public Health for CU �鶹��Ժ, submitted by Colleen Reid, June Gruber and Maureen Floriano: $21,149.
Staff Professional Development Fund, submitted by Bernadette Stewart: $10,000.
Protest Through Poetry-Boulder, submitted by Marisa Tirado and Laurie Gries: $10,000.
Peer Mentoring Pilot Program, submitted by Angela Watts: $8,980.
Improved STEM Mentoring for Under-Represented Graduate �鶹��Ժ at CU-Boulder, submitted by Andrew Cowell, Christopher Lowry, Dana Stamo and Saydie Sago: $8,440.
Mathematics Preliminary Exam Mentoring Program, submitted by Rachel Chaiser and Kyle Luh: $7,000.
My Voice Matters: Program for Underrepresented �鶹��Ժ to Serve as Mentors and Leaders in the Office of Pre-Health Advising, submitted by Katie Chang: $6,000.
Helping Them Get Started: Funding Entry-Level Allied Health Professions Exam Fees for Pre-Health �鶹��Ժ, submitted by Dana Parcher: $6,000.
Disability Symposium, submitted by David Braz and Gavin Lang: $5,000.
Address the Lack of Support for, and Attention to Undergraduate �鶹��Ժ in Arts & Sciences from Rural and Small Towns, submitted by the CU Boulder Rural Network: $4,250.
Staff Innovation Spot Awards, submitted by Jessica Brunecky: $2,500.

Inaugural group of proposals was ‘universally strong and worthy,’ Dean Glen Krutz notes.

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Spying on fish to discover the ‘Rules of Life’

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 16:51:28 +0000

Spying on fish to discover the ‘Rules of Life’ Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/25/2022 - 10:51

Bradley Worrell

A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow CU Boulder researchers to better understand how complex species interactions affect natural ecosystems

University of Colorado Boulder marine biologist Mike Gil says, half-jokingly, that a major part of his research is “spying on fish in coral reefs, ‘Big Brother/1984-style.’”

Now, thanks to a recent $3 million grant from the National Sciences Foundation (NSF), he and researchers from three partnering universities will be able to do that in a really big way.

“I was pleasantly surprised and extremely excited when I first got word that we were successful in our attempt to secure this funding,” says Gil, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, who led the grant proposal. He says the funding is important because there is much that researchers still don’t understand when it comes to the workings of natural ecosystems—especially coral reefs.

Mike Gil at work.

“We’re at the tip of the iceberg, at best,” he says. “How does this system behave? How is it going to respond to a disturbance, like human-driven environmental change? For those kinds of questions, we have incredible room to expand our knowledge base.”

In an attempt to answer those questions, the team of researchers has selected coral reefs in the Caribbean, French Polynesia and Southeast Asia for intensive monitoring and experimentation. The seafloor around large sections of those reefs will be surrounded by an array of video cameras to capture the behavior of mixed-species groups of herbivorous fish as they move around the reef.

“We aim to achieve a contiguous field of view, and to minimize blind spots over a spatial scale of observation that has never been attempted before. Big Brother is going to be watching—but this time, it will be fish,” Gil says with a laugh. “With this approach, we will collect an unprecedented data set on the individual behaviors of these fish. We can then use these data to tease out specific types of interactions among species.”

By studying coral reef ecosystems in different parts of the world, the researchers can identify and quantify similarities and differences, to potentially extract robust patterns across global scales, according to Gil, who adds that this research project is the largest of its kind to date.

“We certainly could benefit tremendously from having way, way more data on how species interact in the wild, and this project will contribute meaningfully to this need,” he says.

Coral reefs & ‘The Rules of Life’

Findings from this research will extend far beyond coral reef ecosystems, Gil says, offering insights on how nature broadly works, or the “Rules of Life,” as defined by the NSF.

Gil explains that, in order to create models of ecosystems, which are designed to make important long-term predictions, scientists have typically simplified biological interactions by classifying them as either negative (e.g., competitors vying for resources) or positive (e.g., cells sharing resources).

However, he notes that in nature, many different interactions occur simultaneously, such as bacteria exchanging genes conferring antibiotic resistance while competing for limiting nutrients, or trees sharing carbon through their root networks while competing for light and water. How such “dynamic interactions” affect the greater ecosystem remains a mystery.

This project can give us a more accurate understanding of how ecosystems like coral reefs and beyond are going to respond to environmental changes and disturbances largely brought on by human activities.

“We propose to tackle this complexity head on, by building these dynamic species interactions directly into ecosystem models. To do this, we need to rigorously observe these interactions in systems known to have a lot of dynamism and variability in how pairs of species interact—and, it turns out, tropical coral reef fish are a great model system for this,” Gil says.

He adds that the scope of what the researchers are attempting to categorize and analyze is massive, which is why CU Boulder is partnering on the research project with mathematical biologists, computer scientists and others from Florida Atlantic University, Cornell University and the University of New Mexico.

“We’re going to go out and rigorously collect boatloads of data on fish behavior and interactions,” says Gil, all in the hopes of figuring out how those species interactions affect the greater ecosystem.

He says that researchers will use detailed modeling to simulate how real-world, human-driven disturbances, like pollution, overfishing or climate change can affect coral reef fish populations and coral reef ecosystems at large.

“We are excited by what this deeper understanding of species interactions could teach us about conservation,” says Gil. “This project can give us a more accurate understanding of how ecosystems like coral reefs and beyond are going to respond to environmental changes and disturbances largely brought on by human activities.”

A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow CU Boulder researchers to better understand how complex species interactions affect natural ecosystems.

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