Outreach:
The primary mechanism for outreach will be Cypriniformes Commons, with information on objectives and progress over the 4-year period, a bibliography of pdfs on cypriniforms, downloadable images of cypriniforms, interactive keys, “best practices” of methods in ichthyology, definitions of terms, and a diverse system of social networking tools for educators, students, scientists, and general public.
All PIs and many collaborators regularly give seminars and talks at public meetings and will give presentations on All Cypriniformes when asked. We are eager to educate the public about biodiversity, threats to the environment, and the need to document all biodiversity on Earth as quickly as possible. As was done for All Catfishes in 2009, we will organize a summary symposium at the ASIH annual meeting in 2014.
Education:
Student training in taxonomy, phylogenetics, biogeography, natural history, museum activities, and resource protection/management is a major goal of this PBI. Funding is requested for 8 years of support for post-doctoral associates and 28 years of support for graduate students at the PIs’ institutions. Funding for undergraduate research will be requested through NSF’s REU Program, and each of us routinely trains undergraduates in our labs (3-7/semester). We will seek to recruit females and students from poorly represented minorities in the US as well as Asian and African students. Related to this goal, in 2010 SLU will launch “Global SLU,” a graduate degree program emphasizing online courses and minimal time on campus. We will advertise this option at workshops and online and encourage foreign students with interests in systematics/biodiversity to enroll. Postdoctoral associates will participate heavily in research and work with foreign collaborators. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in taxonomy, phylogenetics, and natural history. All postdocs and graduate students will be involved in fieldwork and will become familiar with the natural history and ecology of aquatic organisms, as well as participate in workshops, museum curation and manuscript preparation. Each graduate student funded will complete at least one semester of study in the lab of a PI of All Cypriniformes who is not her/his advisor. All will be authors or co-authors on papers on which they play a substantial role.
In addition to students directly funded by this PBI, graduate students at foreign institutions will receive support from funds earmarked for projects of collaborators. Application forms will be on our website. A student will submit a short proposal along with a letter of support from her/his major advisor. Fundable activities include fieldwork, visits to institutional collections, and assistantships for students nearing completion of degrees. Most awards will be $1,000-$4,000, as with All Catfishes. Descriptions and final reports of projects will be posted on CC .
We will conduct a 2-week course on modern techniques in systematic ichthyology for students and scientists. The workshops are aimed at capacity-building in developing countries and will include methods used in taxonomic revisions, phylogenetics (molecular and morphological), and biogeography. Workshops will be held at one of our home institutions (possibly rotated) annually, starting in Year 2. Costs are not included in the budget for this PBI. Attendees will be expected to find their own travel funds, although we will seek alternative sources of funding (e.g., USAID) for participants from the poorest countries and may be able to provide some funding if researchers couple the trip with museum visits. Our experiences in working in Asia and Africa indicate that governments and universities will support these educational opportunities.
Finally, Page will spend several months/year at Chiang Mai Univ. in Thailand and teach a course in ichthyology/biodiversity, as well as give seminars on PBIs, proposal writing, and international funding sources for studies of biodiversity. In addition to significantly broadening impacts of this award, a base in Thailand will be an excellent focal point from which to organize fieldwork in Asia.
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