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The Peter Buck Fellowship Program 2013 Progress Report

2013 Progress Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Overview

II. Voices of the Fellows: Thank You, Dr. Buck! - Biographies and letters from the current Buck Fellows

III. Peter Buck Fellows: Class of 2014


Overview Now in its fourth year, the National Museum of Natural History’s Peter Buck Fellowship Program continues to shape the lives of its participants in profound and lasting ways; it affects each of the Museum’s seven departments and expands its reach with each new class of fellows. The extraordinary research opportunities offered to Peter Buck Fellows at the beginning of their careers can be transforming experiences for them, leading them into lifetime scholarly pursuits that will help us better understand the natural world, and our place in it. As of June 2014, the program has admitted 46 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, including nine fellows who have since completed their tenure at NMNH. The program continues at full capacity and this year was the most competitive yet. Out of 99 eligible fellowship applicants, we selected 13 finalists for the Class of 2014. Awardees have received their doctorates from prestigious institutions such as the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and Harvard University, to name a few. Like last year, a majority of the fellows in this cycle (9 of 13) are receiving complementary funding from other sources, which allows us to accept more highly-qualified candidates and speaks to the caliber of our applicants and their projects. From naming a newly discovered bird-like dinosaur, Anzu wylei (informally known as the “Chicken From Hell”), to studying ear function in baleen whales that tells us about the environmental impacts of ocean noise pollution, these bright scholars are contributing to the larger scientific world. As they inquire, test, and discover, they are closely supported by advisors and collaborators within the Smithsonian community and beyond. It is through their work in the field, in our labs, and using our vast museum collections that these young minds are expanding the limits of what we know about our planet’s past, present, and future. Your generosity and ongoing support for the Peter Buck Fellowship Program continue to have a transformative effect on these talented individuals and on the Museum. Because of your magnanimous commitment to education and research, we are able to support the endeavors of early-career scientists and provide enriching opportunities for the best and brightest, now and in the future. Thank you for your dedication to this flourishing program, and for all that you do to promote science and the mission of this Museum. The following progress report contains two sections: Voices of the Fellows: Thank You, Dr. Buck!

A personal profile and accompanying letter from each of the current Peter Buck Fellows. In their own words, the Fellows provide updates on their progress, highlights from the past year, and reflections on their contributions to science.

Peter Buck Fellows, Class of 2014 A listing of the recently-selected fellows and their research topics.


Voices of the Fellows Thank You, Dr. Buck!


Current Buck Fellows

Name Department Dates of Fellowship

Cheryl Ames Invertebrate Zoology January 2014 – December 2015

Jamie Baldwin-Fergus Invertebrate Zoology February 2013 – January 2015

Richard S. Barclay Paleobiology January 2012 – January 2015

Ricardo Betancur Vertebrate Zoology November 2013 – November 2015

Bonnie Blaimer Entomology February 2013 – January 2015

Sara Casado-Zapico Anthropology June 2012 – June 2014

Habiba Chirchir Anthropology September 2013 – August 2015

Frederick Davis Mineral Sciences September 2012 – September 2015

Klint Ericson Anthropology September 2013 – November 2015

Brent Grocholski Mineral Sciences September 2011 – May 2014

Eliécer Gutiérrez Vertebrate Zoology May 2012 – March 2015

Caroline Judy Vertebrate Zoology January 2014 – December 2015

Neil Kelley Paleobiology January 2014 – December 2015

Fredrick Larabee Entomology July 2013 – July 2014

Tyler Lyson Vertebrate Zoology October 2012 – September 2014

Molly McDonough Vertebrate Zoology February 2014 – February 2016

Leslie Reeder-Myers Anthropology September 2013 – August 2015

Graham Slater Paleobiology September 2012 – September 2015

Jae-Cheon Sohn Entomology July 2013 – July 2015

Rachel Warnock Paleobiology March 2013 – March 2015

Maya Yamato Vertebrate Zoology and Paleobiology January 2013 – January 2015

Reuven Yeshurun Anthropology September 2012 – August 2014

Jing Zhang Mineral Sciences February 2014 – February 2016

Ning Zhang Botany July 2013 – June 2015


Cheryl Lewis Ames, Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology University of Maryland Predoctoral Fellow: January 2014 – December 2015 Research Title: Understanding the Molecular Basis Behind the Box Jellyfish Sting Advisor: Allen Collins (Zoologist, NMFS, NOAA), Karen Osborn (Research Zoologist, Curator of Annelida and Isopoda), and Alexa E. Bely (University of Maryland, College Park)

Cheryl Ames’ research focuses on uncovering the molecular basis of the so-called stinging cells of the box jellyfish Alatina alata, which forms monthly reproductive swarms in several Caribbean and Pacific localities. Stinging cells are actually venom-filled organelles called nematocysts found in all species of the phylum Cnidaria (e.g. corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish), and are used in predation and defense. Despite sometimes causing painful stings or fatalities in human victims, the molecular basis of nematocysts is poorly understood. As a Peter Buck Predoctoral Fellow, Cheryl’s research objectives are to identify the genes associated with A. alata nematocyst production (using transcriptomics), determine at what stages of development the genes are expressed (i.e. transcribed from the genome), and characterize the venom proteins encoded by those genes (using proteomics). Understanding molecular mechanisms of nematocyst production (nematogenesis) during larval development will provide insight into the evolution of novel genes and venom proteins. Additionally, her findings may have applications to the biomedical field for prevention and treatment of sting victims.


Dr. Jamie Baldwin-Fergus, Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology Duke University Postdoctoral Fellow: February 2013 – January 2015 Research Title: Visual Adaptations to the Deep Water Column in Hyperiid Amphipods Advisor: Karen Osborn (Research Zoologist, Curator of Annelida and Isopoda)

Jamie Baldwin Fergus received a Ph.D. in biology in March, 2012 from Duke University. Her dissertation research explored vision and sexual signaling in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Broadly, she is interested in visual ecology of marine crustaceans. Jamie studies vision physiology, eye morphology, and visually mediated behaviors. She also uses mathematical modeling to estimate how the world appears to an animal’s visual system. During her time at the Smithsonian, Jamie is studying the visual adaptations of hyperiid amphipods. Hyperiids are small crustacean invertebrates that are abundant from the surface down to the deepest depths of the oceans, with particular abundance in the twilight zone (200-1000 meters below the surface). At twilight-zone depths, available light is limited to increasingly dim and blue light and bioluminescence. In this zone it is a matter of life and death to see, but not be seen. As a result, hyperiids have developed a wide range of optical configurations, likely an evolutionary response to the complexities of the optical environment in the deep pelagic ocean.

Dear Dr. Buck,

Thank you for the opportunity to study at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum

of Natural History. I’ve been studying the eyes of hyperiid amphipods, a family of small marine

crustaceans, for the last 14 months. After getting to know the family through studying

specimens from the museum collections, I was able to go to the museum’s field station at

Carrie Bow Cay, as well as a research cruise in Monterey Bay, to collect fresh samples for use in

histology and physiology experiments. I’ve been able to determine the wavelengths of light

seen by three species using a special microspectrophotometer at Duke University. I have also

completed eye histology on Paraphronima gracilis, a species with one of the most unique

apposition compound eye configurations that I’ve ever seen. Instead of having one retina in

each eye, it has twelve! They hyperiid family has such mysterious eyes. I’m having a great time

trying to solve their puzzling visual adaptions to life in the deep pelagic. Thank you again for this

opportunity,

Jamie Baldwin Fergus


Dr. Richard S. Barclay, Dept. of Paleobiology Northwestern University Postdoctoral Fellow: January 2012 – January 2015 Research Title: A Geologic Analogue for Modern CO2 Increase: Reconstructing Atmospheric CO2 through the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Advisor: Scott Wing (Curator of Fossil Plants)

Rich Barclay received his Ph.D. in June 2011 from Northwestern University. He has published seven papers and has participated in many field expeditions in North America, South America, Europe, and Greenland. He proposes to reconstruct changes in the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere that occurred during an interval of rapid global warming 56 million years ago. His research will help constrain the sensitivity of Earth’s climate system to changes in CO2, and thus will have high significance in geology and climatology, as well as in predicting warming that will occur under higher CO2 in the future.

23 May 2014 Dear Dr. Buck, Science should be repeatable. Sometimes it is not. This is the predicament that I found myself in when attempting to replicate the work of a colleague, in an attempt to build on that same persons work. This has made progress a little slower than anticipated, and at times very frustrating, but it has also allowed me to solve a problem that has bothered me for many years. As you may be aware, I have been working towards estimating CO2 concentrations during a deep time climate change event 56 million years ago, known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM. Understanding the mechanisms that drove this climate change event is critical, as the PETM represents the best deep-time analog for modern day climate change. My work over the past two years here at NMNH suggests that there was a major increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations prior to the main event. This corresponds to a number of other sets of geologic evidence, and is coincident in time with an increase in temperature of 5°C. I can document when the change occurred, but estimating the magnitude of the change in CO2 is the most difficult part, but is also one of the most important. I want to get this right. The species that I have been studying in detail is Ginkgo adiantoides, a fossil form that looks almost exactly like the modern Ginkgo biloba used for medicinal purposes today. I use the modern response of Ginkgo to the measured CO2 increase since the industrial revolution to calibrate how the fossil Ginkgo plants would have responded to the same change in CO2 in the fossil record, 56 million years ago. This is where the repeatability part comes into play. Another researcher, about 15 years ago created this modern calibration of Ginkgo to the rise of CO2 during the past 200 years. I attempted to replicate his approach, but found a different relationship than this other scientist. They had collected Ginkgo leaves from herbarium sheets, collected at known dates, and counted the number of breathing pores on the leaf surface, from the late 1800s when CO2 was 280 ppm until 2000 when CO2 was about 370 ppm. They found a strong relationship, and then grew Ginkgo saplings in hyperbaric chambers where they could elevate the [CO2] to see how the plants responded. The historical samples had a very steep slope, while the plants grown in the environmental chambers had a very shallow slope (see graph below). They merged the data together and the combined relationship that they got made it look like a dog’s hind leg. This is the part that really bothered me, because this dataset has been applied in many scientific papers, and has had significant influence on our understanding of how CO2 has changed during the past 100 million years. I can say that after a lot of hard work, I feel that I have solved the “dog-leg” problem. I went and created my own historical dataset of Gingko biloba, and it turns out that my historical data smoothly connects with the growth chamber data. What turned out to be wrong was that the

previous scientist had used different microscope techniques to investigate the historical samples than for the growth chamber plants, and thus got different relationships. I went through the hard work of preparing the leaves and imaging them on an environmental SEM here at NMNH (with the help of two dedicate volunteers, Pam Hamilton and Sal Bosco), and found a biologically understandable relationship of how Ginkgo responds to CO2. Now, I can take this new calibration dataset that finally makes biological sense, and apply it to the fossil Ginkgo material from before the PETM. What this tells me is that prior to the main PETM event (this deep-time global warming interval) CO2 doubles during the time when temperature rises by 5°C. CO2 starts at ~300 ppm and then rises to between 600-700 ppm within a 100,000 year window of time. This is equivalent to the estimates of CO2 rise for the most “eco-friendly” models of modern-day climate change. It may take the Earth a long time to fully adjust to such a large increase in CO2, so by the year 2100, my data wouldn’t predict that the climate would warm by 5 degrees Celsius. However, my data do match well with other estimates of Deep-Time temperature sensitivity to CO2 doublings. All of this has been possible because of your support for post-docs here at NMNH, and I thank you greatly for your support. Sincerely,

Richard Barclay, [email protected]

Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow NMNH - Smithsonian Institution

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Previous historical dataset

Ginkgos in growth chambers

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Modern Ginkgo biloba calibration dataset

mailto:[email protected]


Dr. Ricardo Betancur, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology Auburn University Postdoctoral Fellow: November 2013 – November 2015 Research Title: Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of the Most Diverse Group of Freshwater Fishes: A Genome-Wide Phylogeny and Biogeography of Ostariophysi Advisors: Richard Vari (Department Chair, Vertebrate Zoology) and Lynne Parenti (Curator, Vertebrate Zoology)

Originally from Colombia, Ricardo Betancur received his Ph.D. in 2009 from Auburn University, AL. From 2009 to 2013, he worked as postdoctoral researcher at The George Washington University and in 2013 started his second postdoctoral appointment at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History with funding from the Peter Buck Fellowship. Ricardo has published 38 papers and his research interests are broadly concerned with the systematics and evolutionary biology of fishes. He utilizes molecular tools and comparative data to address these topics, using fishes as study systems. This research approach is currently intensifying the implementation of next generation sequencing technologies for robust inferences of phylogenomics (e.g., exon capture) and population genomics (e.g., RAD sequencing). The goal of Ricardo’s Peter Buck Fellowship research project is to produce a data-rich and taxon-dense phylogenetic hypothesis for ostariophysans and to study their biogeographic history.

13 May 2014 Dear Dr. Buck, The purpose of this letter is to thank you for the support I have received through the Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at the NMNH (Department of Vertebrate Zoology). I come from Colombia, a country with very limited opportunities and multiple limitations for conducting world-class research. I’ve been given a unique opportunity that has helped me reach my potential, and I’m very thankful for it. With this fellowship I have enjoyed academic freedom and this last year has been highly productive for me. I have made significant progress towards my postdoctoral research, published four papers, submitted three additional manuscripts (two of which have been accepted), submitted three NSF and two Smithsonian grants, gave several talks in the U.S. and abroad, and received a job offer for a faculty position at University of Puerto Rico (UPR). I’m listing below my academic achievements in 2013-2014. Thanks again for your generosity and I hope other researchers, in particular foreign scholars with otherwise limited opportunities, will continue receiving funding through the Peter Buck fellowship. With my upcoming appointment at UPR, I will be able to help others to achieve their academic goals as well. Sincerely,

Ricardo Betancur-R., Ph.D. Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution PO Box 37012, MRC 159 Washington, DC 20013-7012 www.fishphylogeny.org


Dr. Bonnie Blaimer, Dept. of Entomology University of California, Davis Postdoctoral Fellow: February 2013 – January 2015 Research Title: Patterns and Processes of Phylogenetic Community Structure in Ants Across Four Habitat Types in Madagascar Advisors: Ted Schultz (Department Chair and Research Entomologist) and Sean Brady (Research Entomologist)

Bonnie Blaimer graduated with a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of California, Davis. Her research interests broadly encompass the field of systematics, diversity, and evolution of insects, particularly of ants in the Afrotropical region. To date, she has published seven papers, mostly on ant taxonomy and evolution. Bonnie has conducted extensive field work in Madagascar, and recently started to focus on the little-known canopy ant fauna. During her fellowship she is studying the species composition of ant communities in Madagascar from a phylogenetic perspective, based on molecular genetic data, in order to investigate the evolutionary history of Madagascar’s highly endemic insect fauna.

Bonnie Blaimer Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow

Entomology Washington, May 15, 2014 Dear Dr. Buck, I hope this letter finds you well! Time flies, I am now already a few months into my second Fellowship year. I regret that I not yet had the chance to meet you in person. Last year at the time of writing to you, I had just arrived and begun my work at the Natural History Museum. Therefore I mainly told you back then about my 2012 field expedition to Madagascar surveying the ant fauna of the forest canopy, as the results of this trip were to form an integral component of my research project here.

While I did not have the chance to go back to Madagascar since then, the past year has nonetheless been exciting for me in terms of research progress, discoveries and professional development. I feel very lucky for the opportunity, thanks to your support, to pursue my research in such a stimulating and resourceful environment as the Smithsonian Institution.

Over the course of a few months, I have been able to plough through the samples from my canopy work in Madagascar: pinning, labeling and identifying all the ant to species where possible. In Madagascar, many species of ants still remain undescribed, and identifications can therefore be very difficult or impossible. Fortunately, I was able to make a trip to the California Academy of Sciences and compare my collections to an extensive reference collection, and it hence emerged that we did not discover new ant species on this expedition. Sadly the media is usually mostly interested in reports of new species discovery, but I would argue that a name and an occurrence record are only the tip of the iceberg. Our efforts were successful by virtue of collecting the first colony and nest samples, along with invaluable life and biological history data for previously little known canopy species.

Completing the sorting and identification of these ant specimens, I was further able to start pursuing my main research goal as a fellow here. I collected genetic data for about 300 Malagasy ant species, in order to see how molecular and phylogenetic diversity compares to taxonomic (species) diversity within ant communities and how these patterns vary between communities in different habitats. At the moment, I am in the exciting midst of analyzing these data and getting ready to present the results at a research conference at the end of June.

Hopefully this year we Buck Fellows will indeed be able to meet you in person and be able to express our gratitude of giving us the opportunity to follow our research passions. Until then this letter will have to suffice. I hope you enjoyed hearing a little about my research and I conclude with a huge THANK YOU!

Sincerely,

Bonnie Blaimer


Dr. Sara Casado-Zapico, Dept. of Anthropology University of Oviedo, Spain Postdoctoral Fellow: June 2012 – June 2014 Research Title: Age Estimation by Measurement of Oxidative Stress in Teeth from Different Populations, Comparison with Classical Methods Advisor: Doug Ubelaker (Curator of Anthropology, New World and Senior Scientist)

Sara Casado-Zapico received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry in March 2012 from the University of Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Her primary research interests are improving the forensic science techniques for age-at-death estimation using a multidisciplinary approach, combining classical forensic anthropology techniques with chemistry and molecular biology techniques. Over the course of her project she compared these techniques in two Spanish populations. She has published thirteen papers, four of them related to her current research at the Smithsonian, and she has three manuscripts in preparation. The research developed at the Smithsonian is currently being applied to forensic cold cases in Spain.


Dr. Habiba Chirchir, Dept. of Anthropology The George Washington University Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2013 – August 2015 Research Title: Trabecular Bone Density and Running Adaptations Advisor: Rick Potts (Director, Human Origins Program)

Habiba Chirchir received her Ph.D. from The George Washington University, in Hominid Paleobiology in 2013. Her research is in the evolution of the modern human skeletal anatomy. Her current work, supported by the Buck Fellowship, uses Museum collections to assess bone densities among primates and non-primates that have long daily travel distances compared to those with short daily travel distances. The aim of this research is to understand if there are patterns of low bone density among taxa with long daily travel distance as a means of lightening the skeleton in order to reduce energetic cost during locomotion. This is based on the biomechanical understanding that long daily travel distance is energetically more costly than shorter daily travel distances. Ultimately, results from this research will be used to interpret whether modern human patterns of trabecular density are similar to those of mammals with long daily travel distance and, if so, then modern human bone density pattern is an adaptation for long distance travel.

Dear Dr. Buck,

I started my postdoctoral fellowship in the fall of 2013 in the Human Origins Program. I am writing to share my experience with you since the start of my fellowship. As soon as I arrived at the Smithsonian I started data collection using museum collections, which involved using medical CT scanning facilities to measure bone densities in skeletons of interest, which include hyenas, wolves, foxes, cheetahs and those of humans of different occupations. I am extremely fortunate that you have given me the opportunity to be at the Smithsonian, which has such a rich and diverse collection, not found elsewhere. The data collection phase took approximately five months to complete.

On finishing, I attended the annual physical anthropology conference in Calgary where I presented results from my previous research during my PhD, with financial support from the Buck fellowship. That paper looked at bone density in the fossil record in the last 3 million years in comparison to modern humans and chimpanzees. The results showed that indeed human bones are ‘light’ i.e. have low bone density compared to chimpanzees and our fossil ancestors however, why humans are able to biologically get away with such ‘light’ skeletons is still a mystery. Now I am embarking on the data analysis phase of my fellowship to go on through the summer. I am truly honored to be a Buck fellow and very thankful to you. This is an opportunity that I could not have had elsewhere financially and in sufficient time to accommodate the start to completion (write up results) of a project. I also work with a very supportive team of advisors (Rick Potts in Human Origins and Kris Helgen in Mammals) there is no better place I could be and for that I am grateful for affording me this opportunity. Thank you,

Habiba Chirchir


Dr. Frederick Davis, Dept. of Mineral Sciences University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2012 – September 2015 Research Title: First-row Transition Elements in Oceanic Island Basalts and Upper Mantle Lithologies Advisor: Elizabeth Cottrell (Director, Global Volcanism Program)

Fred Davis earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Minnesota in 2012. His primary research interests are in the chemical evolution and dynamics of the Earth’s crust and mantle. He studies the chemistry of basaltic lavas and mantle xenoliths—rocks that are transported from the mantle to the surface by volcanoes—to better understand the current chemical state of the Earth’s interior and its history. While at NMNH, Fred has used the electron microprobe in the Department of Mineral Sciences to analyze the major element and oxidation-reduction chemistry of xenoliths as part of an investigation of the formation of basaltic lavas at ocean islands. His work has also taken him to the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, where he uses X-Ray absorption techniques to study the oxidation state of Earth materials.

Fred A Davis Department of Mineral Sciences Smithsonian Institution PO Box 37012, MRC 119 Washington, DC 20013-7012

May 16, 2014

Dear Dr. Buck,

I am writing to you to thank you again for your generous support for me and my colleagues. I am truly grateful for the access that my Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship has granted me to the wonderful collections, people, and resources at the National Museum of Natural History. It is a pleasure to be able to send you this correspondence describing my research over the past year.

You may recall from my last letter that I am interested in the chemistry of the interior of Earth. There is a debate in the earth sciences community about whether basaltic lavas, like those found in Hawaii, result from the melting of peridotite, the most common rock in the mantle, or from more exotic rock types. I originally wrote my Buck Fellowship proposal to analyze Hawaiian xenoliths, rocks brought from the Earth’s mantle to the surface in volcanic eruptions, for trace elements that will help me to better understand the types of rocks that are present in the mantle. In the last year, I have performed this analysis using the mass spectrometry facilities at the University of Maryland and the electron microprobe in the Department of Mineral Sciences at the National Museum of Natural History. I have learned that the xenoliths from Hawaii are distinct from other mantle rocks that have been found on the continents or in mid-oceanic ridges, especially in their elevated concentrations of Nickel. These results suggest that certain unique characteristics of Hawaiian lavas are inherited from the peridotites beneath Hawaii and do not require a more exotic component. I will be presenting these findings this summer at the International Goldschmidt Geochemical Conference in Sacramento, CA. I am also in the process of writing an article describing these results that I plan to submit this summer.

In addition to this work, I have had the opportunity to travel to synchrotron radiation facilities at Argonne and Brookhaven National labs and perform experiments in the Department of Mineral Sciences to better understand the chemical behavior of Oxygen in the Earth’s interior. This summer I will host an undergraduate intern at the museum to work on xenoliths from other volcanic islands. In this way, your support of my scientific endeavor will lead to an educational experience for another young researcher.

Once again, I’d like to thank you for your generous support of young scientists. I hope that we will have a chance to meet during my time at the Smithsonian.

Sincerely,

Fred A Davis


Klint Ericson, Dept. of Anthropology University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Predoctoral Fellow: September 2013 – November 2015 Research Title: Sumptuous and Beautiful As They Were: Architectural Form, Everyday Life, and Cultural Encounter in a 17th-Century New Mexico Mission Advisor: Gwyneira Issac (Curator of North America)

Klint Ericson is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His dissertation project is a case study of mission architecture and cultural encounters in seventeenth-century New Mexico, focusing on the material remains of the Purísima Concepción mission among the Zuni Indians of Hawikku Pueblo. Klint is an art historian by training, but draws heavily on other fields such as anthropology, archaeology, architectural history, and material culture studies in his efforts to understand the role of materials in mediating cultural exchanges of the colonial period. During his fellowship at Smithsonian Institution, he will be analyzing Hawikku mission artifacts in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian, while using comparative materials from the National Museum of Natural History, the National Anthropological Archives, and the National Museum of American History to guide his interpretation.

May 13, 2014

Dear Dr. Buck, I am writing to thank you for your tremendous support of my research at the National Museum of Natural History. It has been an honor to be among the Peter Buck fellows this past year. It has provided the time to do work critical to the completion and success of my dissertation project, which is a study of the cultural encounters that took place in a seventeenth-century Spanish mission among the Zuni Indians in New Mexico. The mission that I am studying was at Hawikku Pueblo, a site which occupies an important place in the history of American archaeology. Its excavation from 1917 to 1923 was one of the largest archaeological projects ever undertaken in the American southwest, and was jointly sponsored by Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation. Despite its importance, much of the material excavated in the Hawikku mission has never been published or analyzed, which is the focus of my dissertation. The majority of the Hawikku artifacts are now part of the National Museum of the American Indian, and I have spent much of this past year at NMAI’s research center in Suitland, photographing, drawing, inspecting, and documenting each of the mission artifacts. They include an important group of hybrid ceramic pieces combining European forms with traditional Pueblo Indian materials, construction techniques, and ornamentation. These ceramics include soup-plates, cups, candlesticks, a unique salt cellar, and the baptismal font of the mission, all of which have much to tell about the ways that Spanish friars and native parishioners interacted within the spaces of the mission.

The salt-cellar has been a particularly exciting artifact, because of the way that its form and decoration bring together significant elements from Spanish and Pueblo cultures. Salt cellars occupied an important place at the medieval Iberian table, representing God’s grace and presence, while Zunis considered salt to be part of the literal body of their supernatural figure known as the Salt Mother. The motifs painted on the sides of this vessel combine Greek crosses and ornamental motifs from Spanish pottery with what I believe are Pueblo representations of sacred niches, rainbows, and prayer sticks. This vessel offers a window into the complex, densely meaningful ways that artworks mediated interactions between Pueblo Indians and Spanish colonists. Among other objectives, this year of research has also allowed me to visit National Parks Service archives in Tucson, AZ (which hold important unpublished photographs and fieldnotes related to missions and excavations among the Zuni pueblos), as well as returning to the Hawikku site itself, the Zuni Tribal Museum, and present my ongoing research to the Zuni Tribal Council, to seek their input and guidance in my continued work. My advisor at NMNH, Gwyn Isaac, has been instrumental in facilitating my contacts in the Zuni community, and has been my guide in the tremendously rewarding experience of sharing my research and seeking ways to make it useful for Hawikku’s descendants. Thank you for your interest in the research endeavors of the National Museum of Natural History. You have made all of my work possible, and I deeply appreciate your support.

With Gratitude,

Klint Ericson


Dr. Brent Grocholski, Dept. of Mineral Sciences University of California, Berkeley Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2011 – May 2014 Research Title: The Lower Mantle and the Earth’s Water Cycle Advisors: Elizabeth Cottrell (Director, Global Volcanism Program) and Jeffrey Post (Geologist, Division of Mineralogy)

Brent Grocholski studies the role of water on the properties of minerals in the deep interior of our planet. He uses high-pressure high-temperature experimental methods to simulate the extreme conditions of our Earth’s mantle. His background includes experimental studies on a wide array of planetary and other materials under high compression. Brent obtained his doctorate in Earth and planetary science at the University of California-Berkeley in 2008 and subsequently worked for three years as a post-doctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a Peter Buck Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History since 2011.

Dear Dr. Buck –

The request to write you a letter came at an opportune time as I was weighing different job opportunities recently. The Buck fellowship has helped shape my future as it brought me into a well-respected institution, gave me experience with a government agency that has a scientific mission, and expanded my network in ways I could not have imagined. I now see clearly the need and great demand for individuals with a solid scientific background across all sectors of the economy. The fellowship is important not just for extending academic training, but also for launching careers in Washington and beyond. I have no doubt that my experiences and connections forged at the National Museum of Natural History will pay dividends as I move forward in my own career. I leave the fellowship next month to take a position as an editor at Science. I have no doubt this change in trajectory is just the first step as I transition from conducting my own research to ensuring a healthy science and technology infrastructure for our nation. I am proud to be in the first class of Buck fellows, and expect great things from all Buck fellows in the future. I cannot express my appreciation for you and the fellowship that has given me such wonderful opportunities going forward.

All the best,

Brent Grocholski


Dr. Eliécer Gutiérrez, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology City University of New York Postdoctoral Fellow: May 2012 – March 2015 Research Title: Revealing the Evolutionary History of the Deer Genus Odocoileus, with Emphasis on the Cariacou Complex Advisors: Kristofer Helgen (Curator-in-Charge, Mammals) and Jesus McDonald (Research Geneticist, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute)

Dr. Eliécer E. Gutiérrez, originally from Venezuela, obtained a Ph.D. in Biology at City University of New York in 2012. Since then, he has been a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Mammals of the National Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on theoretical and applied aspects of systematics and biogeography to understand patterns of biodiversity, using mammals as a study system. Dr. Gutiérrez is currently working on the project "Revealing the evolutionary history of the deer genus Odocoileus, with emphasis on the cariacou complex". This study will both establish a species-level taxonomy and will provide insights about the biogeography of New World deer. He is interested in the application of integrative approaches that include ecological niche modeling, molecular techniques (especially massive parallel sequencing), and analyses of morphological data to study systematics and biogeography.

Washington, DC, May 27th, 2014

Dear Dr. Buck, Just like I did last year, I would like to express how grateful I am for the support you are providing not only to me but also to my colleagues and friends—other postdoctoral fellows doing amazing research. This year, I have been able to obtain a dataset unique in the world which consists of mitochondrial genomes and morphological data for deer species from all across the American continent. These species have been long neglected by scientists in my field of research (i.e., systematics and biogeography), despite being so charismatic and diverse. In this group are species as large as reindeer and as small as the Pudus, the smallest deer in the world. (I am including here a photo of the Pudus; it is really the size of a small dog!) In the past, other fellow mammalogists have probably assumed that American deer have been well studied—a reasonable assumption considering that some species are so abundant in North America—and therefore have not studied them. We (scientists) have never rigorously attempted to apply modern methods to estimate how many species of these deer exist. Where did they become so variable in size and shape? Why and how long ago did they become so diverse? Your generous donations to the Buck Fellowship program have allowed me to address these questions and the results will soon be shared with the world in scientific publications. I know you understand how important this is for a scientist, as you are one of us. I consider it hard to overestimate the positive impact you are having in human progress allowing new generations of scientists to make discoveries, especially in times when investments in non-lucrative science are shrinking. Thank you!

Eliécer

Eliécer E. Gutiérrez, Ph.D. Buck Postdoctoral Fellow Division of Mammals, MRC 108 National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution P.O. Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 Personal website: http://www.eliecer---e---gutierrez.com Smithsonian web page: http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/mammals_staff_pages/gutierrez_eliecer.html


Caroline Judy, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology Louisiana State University Predoctoral Fellow: January 2014 – December 2015 Research Title: Genomic View of Speciation in Jamaican Streamertail Hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus) Advisor: Gary Graves (Curator of Birds)

Caroline Judy completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia and a Master’s degree at the University of Missouri-St Louis, where she researched population genetics of Galapagos endemic birds. She worked for two years in science policy at the National Science Foundation before starting her Ph.D. at Louisiana State University, where she continues to study avian evolution, systematics, and conservation. Her dissertation research focuses on one of the most compelling known examples of avian speciation in action. Two recently-diverged species of hummingbirds in Jamaica are known to hybridize, yet the geographic region where hybridization occurs has stayed shockingly narrow through time. The origin and maintenance of such a narrow hybrid zone linking species with high dispersal capabilities on a small oceanic island defies traditional explanations. Caroline is tackling this problem with field studies, specimen-based research, and a massive next-generation DNA sequencing program designed to identify genes that encode the observed morphological differences among populations in these young lineages. Her research will have important implications for both taxonomy and conservation of these unique birds.

L O U I S I A N A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y A N D A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D M E C H A N I C A L C O L L E G E M u s e u m o f N a t u r a l S c i e n c e

1 1 9 F o s t e r H a l l • B a t o n R o u g e • L o u i s i a n a • 7 0 8 0 3 - 3 2 1 6 • 2 2 5 / 5 7 8 - 2 8 5 5 • F A X 2 2 5 / 5 7 8 - 3 0 7 5 W W W . L S U . E D U / L S U M N S

Caroline D. Judy, PhD Candidate 119 Foster Hall Baton Rouge, LA 70803 15 May 2014 Dr. Peter Buck RE: your support Dear Dr. Buck, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your support of research fellows at the Smithsonian Institution. I was awarded a two-year fellowship to conduct my dissertation research addressing hybridization and speciation in Jamaican-endemic Streamertail Hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus). My fieldwork in Jamaica usually takes place in the winter. Stepping off the plane onto an emerald island lined with sparkling beaches is sublime after months of commuting in the snow! For me, however, the best part of the island lies in the interior, far from the scenic coastline. My husband, who has visited me there, remarked that driving into the island’s interior is like stepping into Jurassic Park. The wet montane forests of the east and the ‘cockpit’ limestone forests in the west are filled with island endemics that represent endless possibilities for research, if one can tolerate mosquito bites and other such insults to the flesh.

Whether I am in Jamaica or in Washington, D.C., it is great to be part of the Smithsonian community. The best part about the appointment is that an expert on any number of topics can usually be found from within! My mentor, Gary Graves, Curator of Birds, has worked in Jamaica for many decades on a plethora of projects related to natural history of birds. The series of Streamertail Hummingbirds that he and others collected from across the island is housed in the Natural History Building and is the backbone for my dissertation research (see Fig. 1 for sampling locations). Dr. Storrs Olson, also a Curator of Birds, has also published on many Jamaican endemic birds, including an extinct flightless ibis (Zenicibis xympithecus) known from the Quaternary period. Outside of our division, Dr. Pedro Acevedo, Curator of Plants, is an expert in West Indian flora. He will be tremendous aid to me as I seek to identify the diverse flowering plants I have seen used by Streamertails. The Migratory Bird Center at the National Zoo has a large cohort of researchers working to understand migration and community ecology of wintering American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) on Jamaica, and have expanded my network in country. Regarding molecular methods, many Smithsonian researchers are conducting genomics projects like mine, and represent a lively group with which to compare methods and analytical problems. I have no doubt that being surrounded by this great community will enrich my PhD experience as I work to publish my findings.


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I am a native of Atlanta, GA. I inherited a great love for the out of doors from my father, who was born in the low country of South Carolina and grew up fishing and hunting with his dad, a Methodist minister. He became a lawyer, and is still practicing law in Atlanta. On many weekends I accompanied him to hunting camps where I would sit in deer stands and watch wildlife while he hunted. When I entered college, he encouraged me to follow my passions and instincts (though he said he thought I would make a good lawyer if I wanted). I found my place in the School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, and after a semester studying tropical biology in Costa Rica, I decided to pursue biology research as a career. I conducted a Master’s thesis on Flightless Cormorants (Phalacrocorax harrisi) in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and then settled on a PhD at Louisiana State University, where I etched out my project on Streamertails in Jamaica.

Islands have always fascinated me. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, they represent natural laboratories for speciation genetics. I’d like to tell you a little more about the Streamertail system, which is very cool. Streamertail hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and T. scitulus) represent one of the only known examples of in-situ speciation for birds on a small oceanic island. The two Streamertail species form an extremely narrow hybrid zone where their ranges meet in Eastern Jamaica. Bill color, the secondary sexual character that distinguishes the pair, changes from coral red in T. polytmus to jet black in T. scitulus over a distance less than seven kilometers. While the two are easily

Figure 1: Locations of Streamertail hummingbirds (n=172) collected by Gary R. Graves in Jamaica. Picture insets include parental forms and hybrids. Photo credit: Gary R. Graves.


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distinguished by eye, my research shows that they cannot be distinguished genetically using traditional molecular markers. Using next-generation sequencing technology, I am searching larger parts of the genome for genes and gene regions that encode the observed morphological differences (Fig 2). These genes are likely important for maintaining reproductive isolation between parental forms, and will give us insight into how and why this remarkable speciation event happened. These data will also have implications for taxonomy and conservation.

The year is off to a busy start, and will only get busier! I will be analyzing data and preparing to go back to Jamaica in November 2014 to collect another sixty individuals to add to the current series. This summer I will be presenting some of our results to date at the summer Evolution meeting in Raleigh, NC, and again at the American Ornithologists Union meeting in Estes Park, CO. I will also get to participate in a 10-day workshop on Molecular Evolution at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.

One day, I hope to meet you, so I can thank you in person for creating so many opportunities for research here at the Smithsonian, including my own. Sincerely, Caroline D. Judy, Ph.D. Candidate & Peter Buck Pre-doctoral Fellow Museum of Natural Science & Department of Biological Sciences Louisiana State University

Figure 2: PCA of 1645 single nucleotide polymorphisms showing early-stage divergence in Streamertail hummingbirds.

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Dr. Neil Kelley, Dept. of Paleobiology University of California, Davis Postdoctoral Fellow: January 2014 – December 2015 Research Title: Macroevolutionary Convergences in the Adaptations of Marine Tetrapods: Evaluating Large-Scale Morphological Parallelisms from Mesozoic to Cenozoic Advisor: Nicholas Pyenson (Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals)

Neil Kelley received his Ph.D. in November 2012 from the University of California, Davis. His primary research interests are the evolution, ecology, and extinction of terrestrial vertebrates that have readapted to life in the oceans including marine mammals, sea birds, and especially Mesozoic marine reptiles. He uses quantitative multivariate analysis to explore the interplay of morphology and ecology and investigate macroevolutionary processes such as convergent evolution, adaptive radiation, mass extinction, and ecosystem structuring through time.

Neil Kelley Peter Buck Postdoctoral Research Fellow Department of Paleobiology National Museum of Natural History

16 May 2014

Dear Dr. Buck, My postdoctoral fellowship began in January and the past few months have been an exhilarating blur. Highlights have included discovering freeze-dried ground sloth dung in a collections drawer, watching T. rex bones get laser scanned and chatting about the finer points of whale lunge-feeding with a parachute physicist. Each of these is somewhat outside my area of scientific expertise but these enlightening diversions are what make this an amazing place to work. I am fueled by the infectious hum of curiosity and amazement in the museum galleries and the percolation of knowledge and research behind the scenes. The beginning of my fellowship coincides with the recent closure of the fossil hall. While it has been bittersweet to see the old hall close, it is been exciting to catch glimpses of the vision behind the exhibit redesign. While sifting through the collections I stumbled on the acid-etched bones of a plesiosaur, and a note from another researcher pointing out that these bony fragments locked away in a cabinet are the preserved remains of the last meal of a gigantic mosasaur (extinct marine lizard) that formed a centerpiece of the old ‘Ancient Seas’ exhibit. The evolution and ecology of extinct marine reptiles is the focus of my scientific research so this was an especially exciting discovery for me. After chatting about my find with preparator and researcher Peter Kroehler and curator Dr. Matthew Carrano we discussed the possibility of incorporating this snapshot of life and death in the Cretaceous ocean into the new exhibit. My first major achievement as a postdoctoral researcher at the Smithsonian was completing a special issue of the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology which I guest edited along with my advisor Dr. Nicholas Pyenson and our colleague Dr. James Parham. This issue–Physical Drivers and Marine Tetrapod Evolution–draws together novel research on how diverse lineages adapted to changing marine conditions since the Triassic, 250 million years ago. My ongoing research builds upon this project, searching for common patterns in marine vertebrate evolution. This fall we will travel to central Nevada to produce 3D scans and photogrammetric models of a 220 million year old marine reptile death assemblage, which preserves the skeletons of gigantic ichthyosaurs. I will have a lot more to say about that groundbreaking project next year. Thank you for your generous support of my research and this amazing and unique institution. Sincerely,

Neil P. Kelley* Department of Paleobiology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC 20013, USA

Smithsonian Institution


Fredrick Larabee, Dept. of Entomology University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Predoctoral Fellow: July 2013 – July 2014 Research Title: Functional Morphology and Evolution of Trap-Jaw Ants Advisor: Ted Schultz (Department Chair and Research Entomologist)

Fredrick Larabee is a Ph.D. candidate in the Entomology Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. His research interests center on the functional morphology, comparative biomechanics, and evolution of insect mouthparts. Using methods from classical morphology, mechanical engineering, and molecular phylogenetics, he is trying to better understand the relationship between mouthpart structure and function, and look for correlations between mouthpart specialization and evolutionary success. As a Buck Fellow, Larabee has been using the Museum’s extensive ant collection and DNA sequencing facilities to study the evolution and functional morphology of trap-jaw ants, whose specialized spring-loaded mandibles are one of the fastest animal movements that have ever been recorded.

Dr. Buck, The last eleven months that I have spent working at the National Museum of Natural History have been some of the most productive and rewarding months of my professional life, and I wanted to thank you for making this experience possible. Coming from a laboratory primarily focused on behavioral and community ecology, I never realized how well my research interests fit into a museum environment. My original interest in conducting research at NMNH was to take advantage of the insect collections for molecular phylogenetics, but through my interactions with staff, fellows and other visiting researchers, I learned that research at the Smithsonian is so much more than just systematics and alpha taxonomy. The imaging facilities combined with the enormous biological collections at NMNH make it an ideal place to conduct the morphological and biomechanical research that I am interested in. As a result of my time as a Buck Fellow, I am now actively pursuing opportunities to continue my research as a post-doc at NMNH or another natural history museum. Thank you again for this opportunity. Sincerely,

Fredrick Larabee


Dr. Tyler Lyson, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology Yale University Postdoctoral Fellow: October 2012 – September 2014 Research Title: The Origin of Turtles and Their Enigmatic Shell Advisors: Kevin de Queiroz (Research Zoologist and Curator, Amphibians and Reptiles) and George Zug (Curator Emeritus, Amphibians and Reptiles)

Tyler Lyson is addressing two major questions during his postdoctoral fellowship: how do turtles breathe, and to which other group of vertebrates are they most closely related—lizards, birds, crocodiles, or mammals? To determine the evolutionary position of turtles in the vertebrate tree of life, he will gather and integrate data on development and adult form (from both extinct and living species), as well as on genetics of living species. Placing turtles on the evolutionary tree will resolve one of the last big mysteries in the high-level relationships among major groups of terrestrial vertebrates. Lyson’s dissections will help determine the evolutionary steps necessary for turtles to change from breathing with rib-based muscles, as in their earliest ancestors, to breathing with abdominal muscles. Additionally, Tyler collaborated with other scientists, including Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Museum, on the study of a new bird-like dinosaur, Anzu wylei, previously unknown to science. Having found one of the fossils himself in the 1990s, Tyler was involved in the naming of the species earlier this year. Receiving significant media attention in March 2014, the discovery represents the first complete and largest North American example of a species belonging to Oviraptorosauria, a group of dinosaurs mostly known from fossils found in Central and East Asia; this specimen was found in the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation in North and South Dakota, inspiring scientists to nickname it “The Chicken from Hell.”

Dear Dr. Buck, I would like to take some time and thank you for your generosity towards the

Smithsonian Institution that has allowed me to work as a Peter Buck Fellow for the past

two years at the National Museum of Natural History. The opportunity has given me the

time and tools to answer some basic questions regarding turtles: who are turtles most

closely related to? How did the turtle get its shell? When did the turtle shell evolve? How

do turtles breathe when they lock up their ribs into a protective shell? When and how did

this transformation take place? I have addressed these questions by performing fieldwork

in South Africa and North Dakota/Montana, using Computed Tomography scans to

visualize hard and soft anatomy, and integrating these morphologic and histologic data

from both living and fossil turtles with molecular data. I feel very privileged to work on

questions that I find so fascinating, to meet and collaborate with scientists from various

disciplines, and to travel the globe in my search for answers to these questions. Thanks

again for this fantastic opportunity! Your generosity has been crucial to the success of my

career and helped set me up to land my dream job as a museum curator at the Denver

Museum of Nature and Science. I will start my new job this fall and I could not be more

excited!

As a small token of my appreciation I have included a bronze cast of a

Tyrannosaurus rex tooth that I found in July, 2012. The tooth is from the Hell Creek

Formation (latest Maastrichtian, ~67 mya) of eastern Montana (Fallon County, just north

of the town Baker on a private ranch). I grew up in the area and have been conducting

fieldwork here for around 20 years. I have found numerous new species of turtle (which

is what ultimately got me interested in turtles), as well as dinosaurs, lizards, and other

animals. The T-rex tooth is certainly the nicest tooth I have ever found and I hope you

enjoy it (makes a great paper weight!).

Best wishes,

Tyler Lyson


Dr. Molly McDonough, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology Texas Tech University Postdoctoral Fellow: February 2014 – February 2016 Research Title: Understanding the Biodiversity and Evolutionary Relationships of an Enigmatic Rodent Group: Subtribe Gerbillina, Using Next-Generation Sequencing Advisor: Kristofer Helgen (Curator-in-Charge of the Division of Mammals)

Molly McDonough received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis on molecular systematics of small mammals from Texas Tech University in December 2013. She is interested in understanding the evolutionary relationships and biodiversity of mammals, particularly African rodents. She has published 13 papers, including a description of a new bat species from western Ecuador. During her Buck Fellowship, Molly will estimate the number of species of pygmy gerbils that occur throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Pygmy gerbils exhibit a remarkable amount of species diversity (~60 spp.) and occur in small geographic ranges, making them particularly susceptible to regional extinction. Her research will provide the first insight into the number of species in this group, and where to focus future conservation efforts.

13 May 2016

Dear Dr. Buck:

It is with great pleasure that I write to thank you for enabling me to pursue a postdoctoral position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. I am absolutely thrilled to be conducting research here at the NMNH, a place that E. O. Wilson describes as the “Cathedral of Knowledge”. Each day at the Smithsonian is filled with priceless opportunities. For example, during my first three weeks at the Smithsonian I was able to sequence over a dozen mitochondrial genomes using the same sequencing technology that was used to generate the Neanderthal genome. Then, only weeks later, I was able to meet and have dinner with the Svante Pääbo, the research leading the Neanderthal genome project.

My project involves sequencing African rodents to resolve evolutionary relationships and estimate species diversity for groups that have been overlooked, or have been complicated due to high degrees of morphological similarity. This type of research is often difficult to find funding for, because it rarely has a direct impact to humans/human interest. However, I have found a great community at the Smithsonian’s NMNH and it is through your fellowship that this type of research is possible.

Sincerely,

Molly M. McDonough Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 37012, MRC 108 Washington, DC 20013-7012 [email protected]


Dr. Leslie Reeder-Myers, Dept. of Anthropology Southern Methodist University Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2013 – August 2015 Research Title: Historical Ecology and Landscape Archaeology of Chesapeake Bay Advisor: Torben Rick (Director and Curator of North American Archaeology)

Leslie Reeder-Myers received her Ph.D. in Anthropology in December 2012 from Southern Methodist University. Her primary research interests center on the interactions between people and their environment in coastal settings, using GIS and spatial analysis to reconstruct ancient landscapes and explore patterns of land use in the past. She uses archaeology to address issues of modern significance such as climate change and cultural resource loss, and to provide a framework for human management and conservation of modern ecosystems. During her postdoctoral fellowship, Reeder-Myers will explore the role of sea level rise, climate change, and humans in shaping Chesapeake Bay ecosystems over the past 3,000 years.

Dear Dr. Buck,

I am now seven months into my tenure as a Buck post-doctoral fellow and it has been, without qualification, the best experience of my academic career thus far. I am an archaeologist, studying changes in how people have used Chesapeake Bay resources over the past 3000 years. I have done more research, writing, and publishing than ever before, and probably more than I will be able to do ever again. I have met many new people, established new professional relationships, and found exciting new opportunities for research and collaboration. I would like to share with you one of these opportunities that has been particularly important to me.

As an archaeologist working on coastal sites all around North America, I am constantly aware of the increasing rate of coastal erosion. 21st century climate change will have many negative consequences, but one of those will be the loss of much of our cultural heritage in coastal regions. As a young graduate student, I wrote a paper examining this issue in southern California, but I did not expect to have an opportunity to revisit the subject for many years. However, during my time at the Smithsonian, I have been able to meet with scientists working for NOAA. They invited me to be a part of a group that is establishing protocols for dealing with endangered archaeological sites in their Marine Protected Areas. This is a service opportunity that I was offered because of my position at the Smithsonian, and that I am able to pursue because of the freedom offered by the Buck fellowship program. The archaeological record is, in many cases, our only window into the human past, and I am grateful for the chance to help protect it for future generations.

Thank you for your support of this fellowship program, not only because of the important research that can be accomplished but also because of the impact it has on all of us personally.

Sincerely,

Leslie Reeder-Myers


Dr. Graham Slater, Dept. of Paleobiology University of California, Los Angeles Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2012 – September 2015 Research Title: Tempo and Mode of Ecomorphological Diversification in Canidae: A Phylogenetic and Paleobiological Perspective Advisors: Gene Hunt (Curator of Ostracoda) and Kristofer Helgen (Curator-in-Charge of the Division of Mammals)

Graham Slater obtained his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from UCLA in 2009. He is interested in questions about the rates of morphological evolution in living and fossil mammals, particularly the order Carnivora, and is an active developer of new methods for studying these kinds of questions. During his Peter Buck Fellowship, Graham is attempting to understand patterns and processes in the evolution of North American canids (dogs), a lineage that spans 45 million years and achieved remarkable diversity in form and number.

� "" " """""""June 4, 2014""Dear Dr Buck,"

" I’m very happy to be able to write you again this year to update you on what has happened over my second year at the National Museum of Natural History as a Peter Buck Post-doctoral Fellow."

" The past year has been extremely eventful. To remind you of who I am and what I do, I am based in the Department of Paleobiology, and my work focuses on understanding variation in rates and modes of evolution in mammals, particularly carnivores. One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a fellow at a museum like this is that we have the opportunity to interact with a variety of people, For example, since arriving here, I have collaborated with curator Kris Helgen in the Division of Mammals on a recently published project that led to us naming a new genus (Neomonachus) for the Hawaiian and recently extinct Caribbean monk seals. This past year though, it has really struck me how we have unparalleled opportunities to get involved in exciting outreach activities that emphasize to young people why science is both important and fun. This past year I gave talks and tours of the fossil mammal galleries to groups of teenagers as part of a Smithsonian spring break camp, I travelled with various skulls to a Virginia junior school as at the guest speaker of a student-organized “Polar Bear Club”, and I recently joined up with Disney’s education division at the US Science and Engineering Festival here in DC to talk to young people about the science behind Disney Nature’s latest movie, “Bears”. This summer, I will be mentoring two high school students from the great DC area as part of the Smithsonian’s Youth Engagement in Science program. I’m particularly excited about this opportunity and have designed small, accomplishable research projects for these students that should lead to their own peer-reviewed publications. Learning about science in the classroom is one thing, but experiencing and doing research is a whole other world and I hoping that the experience of working in the Smithsonian’s collections will prove as inspiring for these students as it has for me. "

"Professionally, my Peter Buck fellowship has continued to provide me the opportunity to flourish and expand my research. This past winter, I interviewed for several faculty

SmithsonianNational Museum of Natural History

Graham J. Slater PhD"Peter Buck Post-Doctoral Fellow"Department of Paleobiology"National Museum of Natural History"The Smithsonian Institution [NHB, MRC 121]"P.O. Box 37012"Washington DC 20013-7012"Tel: (310) 404-6381"Email: [email protected]"



positions at major research universities. I’m excited to tell you that this past week I accepted an offer to join the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor, beginning July 1st 2015 (so I will have time to complete my fellowship). Being here at the Smithsonian has played a significant role in allowing me to explore new research opportunities while increasing my profile and ultimately has contributed to my obtaining this position. "

I would like to take the opportunity again to thank you for your generosity and for creating these opportunities for us. Your support has had a profound impact on my career already, and I am sure it will continue to have similar impacts on the careers of current and future fellows."

Yours Sincerely,"

� "

Graham Slater.


Dr. Jae-Cheon Sohn, Dept. of Entomology University of Maryland Postdoctoral Fellow: July 2013 – July 2015 Research Title: Evolution and Evolutionary Consequences of Feeding Strategies Within a Clade of Primitive Moths: Taxonomic, Phylogenetic, and Paleobiological Approaches Advisor: Don Davis (Researcher and Curator of Lepidoptera)

Jae-Cheon (Jay) Sohn received his Ph.D. in August 2013 from the University of Maryland. He has studied systematics of several groups of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and has published more than 50 papers. He is currently working on the evolutionary consequences of leaf mining, a specialized type of plant feeding, within small moths. He is especially interested in the phylogeny and feeding habit evolution of Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea, presumably the earliest members of Lepidoptera that exploited transitions between leaf mining and feeding with their body exposed. He will collect phylogenetic and biological data for Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea and combine those with data from the fossil record.

Jae-Cheon (Jay) Sohn Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of Entomology Dear Dr. Buck,

Hello. I regret that I missed a chance to meet you in person last year. So, I find this letter another chance to appreciate your kind support for my research. I wish to express how blessed I am to have your support. I started my postdoctoral fellowship from last July and am getting into my second fellowship year. For my postdoctoral research, I am trying to address evolutionary questions involved in feeding habit transitions within small moths, based on phylogenomic approaches. My research is focused on two especially important moth groups, Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea, in understanding the feeding habit evolution of Lepidoptera (moths, skippers and butterflies). These are fairly common and include a few notable pest species. I know how much effort you have dedicated in getting fresh vegetables for your “Subway” restaurants. Regarding that, I would like to mention one particular species of Yponomeutoidea that is of concern. The Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) is the most notorious pest species in the cabbage industry. My research will help us understand why some species of small moths are more damaging to crops than others and if their feeding habit is involved.

With support from the Peter Buck Fellowship, I had research trips to West Virginia last August

and Eastern Australia last November. During my collecting with light trap there, I was able to get the fresh specimens of several moth families, such as Bucculatricidae, Bedelliidae and Roeslerstammiidae. These are the important groups for understanding how transitions in feeding habit evolved within Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea. My trip to Australia was especially successful in getting research materials for resolving issues involved in Lyonetiidae, a leaf-mining moth family whose systematic identity remains uncertain. This year, I will get genetic data from the collected specimens, build the phylogenetic relationships of Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea, and then incorporate the results with their fossil records. This will lead me to test my hypotheses on the feeding habit evolution of Lepidoptera.

I know that your generous gift to the Smithsonian community has provided the support needed to

proceed with several important scientific programs. This is especially true for my research project on Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea which have been neglected by systematists and their biodiversity and phylogeny remain poorly understood, despite their importance in human economy and evolutionary studies of Lepidoptera. People often appreciate the beauty of butterflies but less so for small moths like Yponomeutoidea and Gracillarioidea. I am sure that once having better understanding of those tiny moths, people will find their true beauty. Given the chance, I would like to show you how beautiful these moths are. You might see what I am talking about. I really appreciate your support for me to keep working on these tiny but spectacular moths!

With my best regards June, 2014

Jay Sohn


Dr. Rachel Warnock, Dept. of Paleobiology and Invertebrate Zoology University of Bristol Postdoctoral Fellow: March 2013 – March 2015 Research Title: An Integrative Phylogenetic and Stratigraphic Model for Estimating Evolutionary Rates and Times Advisor: Peter Wagner (Curator of Paleozoic Molluscs) and Christopher Meyer (Research Zoologist)

Rachel Warnock is a paleobiologist interested in computational approaches to estimating evolutionary rates and times, and is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Paleobiology and Invertebrate Zoology at NMNH. She recently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Bristol, where her research focused on how to characterize paleontological and geological uncertainty in the calibration of the molecular clock. Rachel’s postdoctoral research aims to develop approaches to incorporate stratigraphic information in Bayesian models of divergence time and evolutionary rate estimation. The project will focus on the diversification of the coral-reef-associated gastropods Cypraeidae, and will assess the impact of environmental changes on the radiation of this important tropical fauna during the Cenozoic.

Rachel C. M. Warnock Peter Buck Post-Doctoral Fellow

Department of Paleobiology National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian Institution Washington DC

Friday 16th May, 2014 Dear Peter Buck, I would like to thank you for the fabulous opportunity to do research at the Natural History Museum in Washington. I’m a Scottish paleobiologist, in the very fortunate position of being a hybrid researcher between the departments of Paleobiology and Invertebrate Zoology. I recently finished my doctorate at the University of Bristol – a rainy spot in the South West of England. I didn’t always want to be a paleobiologist. I started off my academic life in genetics, and gradually became interested in evolutionary biology, until (eventually) realizing that the questions I was interested in couldn’t be answered without some knowledge of the past. For over five years, I’ve been fascinated by the methods used to reconstruct evolutionary history – including, distinguishing between different branches of the Tree of Life, establishing the relationships among living species, and detecting evolutionary responses to the changing environment. These themes remain central to my research at the museum. In actual fact, a lot of information can be gleaned about the past from the genomes of living organisms, but without reference to the fossil record we can’t add the dimension of time to the Tree of Life. Without a timescale, we can’t accurately measure evolutionary rates, or correlate Life’s changes to environmental prompts. The most powerful strategy we have for understanding Life’s history is to combine biological and geological evidence. So, I switched disciplines for my PhD (not entirely forgetting my lessons in molecular biology). My transition between the fields of biology and paleontology was tremendous fun, and before long I couldn’t believe that I’d ever had the audacity not to acknowledge 3.5 billion years of evidence of Life embedded on Earth’s surface. During my doctoral research I became interested in how we characterize uncertainty in the models used to estimate evolutionary parameters. I spent this time steeped in books and theories, in front of a computer. My aim at the Natural History Museum is to continue work on these interests, but also to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of fossil data, which can only come so far from the literature alone. The group that I’m focusing on – the Cypraeidae (or cowries), tropical marine gastropods – present an ideal case study for this challenge. A major goal of my project is to collate available fossil occurrences. The majority of fossil cowries at the museum reside in extensive Cenozoic faunal collections, arranged by province, rather than taxonomy. To maximize the utility of this fossil information will require: identifying the specimens, providing a detailed description of the rock type, and updating the age of the faunal collections – all of which are practical skills I must learn. The next stage will be to complement the fossils with available molecular data, and the first analytical task will be to generate a timeline for the evolution of this group. From here, we can start to answer questions about how the changing tropical environment has shaped the history of this group. One of the many great things about being at the museum, in addition to the extensive team of in-house experts, are the great number of scientific visitors, attracted by the researchers and the collections. In

the brief time I’ve been here, I’ve met some amazing scientists, and initiated some exciting international collaborations. From within the lively scientific network and the walls of the museum, it is easy to forget the exceptional, friendly and delicious city that lies beyond! It is thrilling to work at the heart of America’s capital – an amazing location to experience American life and culture. Just yesterday, I went in search of inspiration at the National Gallery of Art, only three minutes by bike from where I work. I would like to share a poem with you that I discovered not long before I finished my thesis, Theory of the Earth by Edwin Morgan (1984), James Hutton that true son of fire who said to Burns ‘Aye, man, the rocks melt wi the sun’ was sure the age of reason's time was done: what but imagination could have read granite boulders back to their molten roots? And how far back was back, and how far on would basalt still be basalt, iron iron? Would second seas re-drown the fossil brutes? ‘We find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.’ They died almost together, poet and geologist, and lie in wait for hilltop buoys to ring, or aw the seas gang dry and Scotland's coast dissolve in crinkled sand and pungent mist. This poem uses the lyrics of Robert Burns to describe the geological processes first proposed by James Hutton, the ‘father of modern geology’ (though contemporaries, it is thought that they never met). It also encompasses several themes that are central to my research: the great expanse of geological time to be unraveled by scientists; the geological cycles that are key to understanding the fossil record; and (at least how I’ve interpreted it) the idea that imagination is essential for scientific discovery. I think it’s important to view science as a creative discipline, and that a great source of this creativity, is the exchange of ideas among researchers from different backgrounds – such as biology and geology – and different continents. I feel like I’m just getting started, and I look forward to letting you know how I get on over the upcoming year. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity! Yours sincerely,

Rachel Warnock


Dr. Maya Yamato, Depts. of Vertebrate Zoology and Paleobiology Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Postdoctoral Fellow: January 2013 – January 2015 Research Title: Sound Reception in Baleen Whales: Applying New Techniques and Fresh Perspectives to a Longstanding Question Advisors: Kristofer Helgen (Curator-in-Charge of the Division of Mammals) and Nicholas Pyenson (Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals)

Maya Yamato received her Ph.D. in 2012 from the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. Her primary research interest is in the evolution of aquatic hearing in cetaceans, with a focus on baleen whales. During her postdoctoral fellowship, she is investigating the auditory anatomy of several baleen whale species to understand how these animals receive sound. Her methods include CT scanning whale heads and ears, dissecting specimens in the lab and on the beach, modeling sound propagation through the various tissues of whale heads, and analyzing the biochemical properties of soft tissues associated with whale ears.

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May 15, 2014

Dear Dr. Buck,

I just celebrated my 29th birthday, which made me think about all of the things that happened in the

past year. It was an amazing year both in terms of my personal and professional life, thanks in large part to you!

I have been at the NMNH for 16 months now but every day is still full of exciting and new opportunities. For

example, this spring has been a busy time for strandings and I have been to 5 baleen whale dissections since

February. One of these was a “floating” dissection (pictured below), which I had never done before. The goal of

these dissections is to describe the enigmatic auditory systems of baleen whales, which is an important step in

understanding the effects of ocean noise pollution on these animals.

Left: I got married last October! Right: Dissecting a fin whale in Chesapeake Bay. I’m cutting into the “outer ear”

of the whale and getting samples for my research. The left eye is by my boot and I’m sitting on its lower jaw.

When I’m not dissecting “fresh” whales off of boats or on the beach, I am studying specimens from the

collections. In particular, I found an incredible but underutilized resource at the Smithsonian: alcohol-preserved

fetuses that were collected mostly in association with commercial whaling operations. Some of the specimens

are from over 100 years ago and they are very valuable, irreplaceable specimens. Understandably, destructive

sampling has been discouraged and they have not been used for many projects. However, modern biomedical

imaging techniques allow us to “dissect” these specimens non-invasively! Since last year, I CT scanned almost all

of the baleen whale fetuses (~25 individuals), as well as ~30 fetuses of toothed whales, for a comparative study

of the ontogenetic development of cetacean ears. We are also working to manage this data so that it can be

publicly available in the future.

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Left: USNM 260581, a blue whale fetus that was collected in 1936. Right: “How to make a whale ear.” We are

following the morphological changes and ossification patterns of the ears in whale fetuses to understand the

strange, aquatic mammalian ears that are found in modern adult whales.

While my research activities have been stimulating and productive, I have also been active in outreach

and education. One of the highlights of this past year was mentoring a local DC high school student through the

museum’s Youth Engagement in Science program. My intern was Jessica Black, a senior at the Calvin Coolidge

High School. Jessica and I spent two days a week together for 6 weeks, touring the marine mammal collections,

skinning rabbits, rodents, and panthers, learning about the different species of mammals down in the exhibits,

and teaching her how to manipulate 3D datasets from CT scans. It was a fantastic educational experience for

both of us. After the program was over, she sent us happy news that she got a scholarship to a university in Iowa.

Left: Compare the size of the blue whale skull with Jessica’s head

(and the blue whale fetus pictured above)! Below: A Halloween-

themed public event I organized last year. Top left: the

“jackelope”, or a rabbit with a papilloma virus growth on its face;

bottom right: a Cyclops kitten that was born with one eyeball.

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There are a lot of other things that I want to tell you about, including: the dolphin die-off last summer,

which kept us and the local stranding networks busy with over 1000 dead bottlenose dolphins; new discoveries

in the auditory anatomy of gray whales and minke whales; the international marine mammal conference in New

Zealand, where I was a session chair for the first time; a potential trip to Barrow, Alaska this fall; a road trip to

New Haven with Jim Mead, the curator emeritus of marine mammals; transcribing and editing a hand-written,

unpublished Ph.D. thesis from the 1960’s on the cranial anatomy of baleen whales; my first job interview;

training volunteers in the new Q?RIUS center; starting a new outreach program in the Mammals Hall… and

more!! But this is supposed to be a short letter, so I will stop here and just say thank you so much for enabling

my postdoctoral fellowship. I am so happy to be at the NMNH and these adventures wouldn’t have been

possible without you!

Sincerely,

Maya Yamato, Ph.D.

Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow

[email protected]


Dr. Reuven Yeshurun, Dept. of Anthropology University of Haifa, Israel Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2012 – August 2014 Research Title: Late Paleolithic Taphonomy and Subsistence in the Nile Valley: The Archaeofaunas of the Kom Ombo Plain and Wadi Halfa Advisors: Melinda Zeder (Senior Scientist, Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology and Curator, Old World Archaeology)

Reuven Yeshurun received his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Haifa in 2012. He is an archaeologist with special interest in the Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic Periods in the Near East. His research interests include Paleolithic human subsistence and ecology and the archaeology of the first settled societies, with special focus on the Natufian Culture. He co-directs the multi-annual excavation project at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel, and studies numerous faunal assemblages of the Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods to address various questions pertaining to human subsistence, ecology and behavior. Yeshurun published 35 peer-reviewed articles dealing with zooarchaeology, taphonomy, radiocarbon dating, excavation results, and other subjects.

May 14, 2014

Dear Dr. Buck,

My second (and final…) year of the post-doc fellowship is almost over, and as in last year, I am delighted to

share with you some of my fellowship experience and future plans.

I was trained as an archaeologist and a zooarchaeologist in Israel, working mainly on Israeli material from the

Paleolithic Period. During my fellowship in the Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology at NMNH,

hosted by Dr. Melinda Zeder, I was able to expand my research projects to materials from neighboring

countries in the Middle East – Sudan, Egypt and Turkey. I have studied some very interesting fossil animal

bone collections from Nubia. These come from Paleolithic sites which were excavated some 50 years ago as

part of the international rescue operations preceding the flood of the Nile Valley by the Aswan Dam. I

managed to show that some 20,000 years ago the dwellers of the Nile Valley used to hunt and butcher

hippopotamuses, wild cattle and hartebeest, as well as catch catfish in the residual ponds following the

annual Nile flood.

I have been working with Dr. Zeder on her monumental project of the faunas from an 11,500 year-old

Turkish site, one of the first sedentary settlements in Anatolia. I focused on remains of foxes and hares,

which form a significant part of the total bone assemblage (otherwise dominated by red deer, wild goat, wild

sheep and wild boar). My research indicated that foxes and hares were probably not captured using the

same foraging opportunities and capture methods (for example, by trapping). I think that foxes were

captured close to the site, which they approached for food. This highlights a very interesting process:

humans inadvertently created an anthropogenic environment with much more buildup of refuse than

before. This environment attracted foxes and other carnivores and significantly increased their survival rates

and population densities; and humans took advantage of these unexpected consequences of sedentism by

capturing and exploiting the abundant foxes near their houses. A fascinating co-evolutionary process was at

play there.

Finally, I’m happy to report that I was offered a tenure-track position in the Department of Archaeology, the

University of Haifa. This is exciting and is largely due to my wonderful two-year long post-doc here in the

Smithsonian Institution.

Hopefully I managed to deliver some of my enthusiasm of being a Peter Buck Postdoctoral fellow in the

NMNH in this short letter. The fellowship period has been immensely educating and enjoyable, as well as

extremely important for my career. I would like to thank you for making it happen.

With best wishes,

Dr. Reuven Yeshurun

Peter Buck Post-doctoral Fellow

Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Email: [email protected]

Homepage: http://si.academia.edu/ReuvenYeshurun


http://si.academia.edu/ReuvenYeshurun


Dr. Jing Zhang, Dept. of Mineral Sciences Miami University of Ohio Postdoctoral Fellow: February 2014 – February 2016 Research Title: The Role of Microbes in the Preservation of Organic Matter in Clay Minerals Advisors: Cara Santelli (Geologist, Division of Mineralogy) and Jeff Post (Geologist and Curator-in-Charge, Mineral Collection)

Jing Zhang received her Ph.D. in January 2014 from Miami University, Ohio in Geomicrobiology. Her primary research interest is in the interaction between microbes, clay minerals, and organic matter. In nature environments, organic matter will be protected from microbial degradation by clay minerals; however, some microbes can react with clay minerals via the dissolution process. Jing’s research is highly interdisciplinary, collecting data from microbial growth, mineralogy changes of clay minerals, and organic matter degradation to explore the fate of the organic matter preserved in clay minerals through time under microbial activities. She has published eight papers. During her project Jing will use several different fungi to react with organic matter intercalated clay minerals, to investigate the degradation of organic matter in a laboratory setting. And in the future, she hopes she can find out the organic matter preservation in the nature environments.

Dear Dr. Buck,

Thank you for supporting my fellowship in Smithsonian Institution.

I think I am very lucky to have this opportunity to work in Mineral Science Department. It is a

small department, and everyone is very friendly and nice. I have two new mentors—Cara

Santelli and Jeffrey Post. Cara is a charming young lady. She does not only have a successful

career but also a respectable personality. I wish I could become a person just like her. Jeffrey is

very patient and intelligent. Every time when I have questions, he will always have a way to help

me find the answer. In our department, we will have lunch together in the conference room every

day. It is my favorite time. Everyone is very happy and talking all kinds of topics. As a foreigner,

I heard many interesting stories, learned different customs, and made new friends.

My research project is a new area. At very beginning, I felt very stressful. However, my mentors

encouraged me. They did not give me pressure, but showed their trust. It is the first time I feel I

am not a student any more. I should be able to find a way to complete this project. Now I am

learning lots of new methods, and I believe I will be successful in this interesting project.

Again, thank you for your generosity.

Best wishes,

Jing Zhang


Dr. Ning Zhang, Dept. of Botany Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Pennsylvania State University Postdoctoral Fellow: July 2013 – June 2015 Research Title: Underlying Molecular Mechanisms of the Origin and Secondary Loss of Tendrils Over the Evolutionary History of the Vitaceae Advisors: Elizabeth Zimmer (Research Botanist and Curator) and Jun Wen (Research Botanist and Curator)

Ning is especially interested in the amazing morphological diversity in plants and the contribution of gene expression changes to morphological evolution. The plant family, Vitaceae, is especially well-known for the economically-important species, grape (Vitis vinifera), which can be used as fruit or be made into wine and raisins. Most species of the family are woody climbers and sometime vines, seldom becoming succulent trees, so one noticeable character for this family is the occurrence of tendrils, which help the plant reach the canopy to get more light in dense forest. Tendrils in Vitaceae are considered to be modified reproductive organs and may be a key innovation in the family. However, the molecular mechanisms of the origin of tendril and of the secondary loss in the genus Cyphostemma are still unknown. With the support from the Peter Buck Fellowship, we will determine which kind of genes play key roles during the development of the lateral meristem into tendrils or flowers. This study will not only provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of the origin of new organs, but also might be helpful to develop strategies to monitor the ratio of flowers to tendrils using non-chemical techniques and ultimately improve the quality and yield of grapes.


Peter Buck Fellows

Class of 2014


Monica Carlsen, University of Missouri, St. Louis Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Botany Project Title: Understanding species diversity disparities across tropical forest regions Advisors: John Kress and Jun Wen Nathaniel Evans, University of Florida, Gainesville Predoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology Project Title: Morphological and developmental disparity dynamics associated with the emergence of commensalism and the loss of swimming in "swimming" crabs Advisors: Rafael Lemaitre and Christopher Meyer Maria Heikkila, University of Helsinki, Finland Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Paleobiology Project Title: Improved time frame for the diversification of Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies): a synthesis of paleontology, next-generation sequencing and morphology Advisor: Conrad Labandeira Ana Jesovnik, University of Maryland, College Park Predoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Entomology Project Title: Phylogeny, taxonomy, coevolution, and species limits in the fungus-farming ant genus Sericomyrmex Advisors: Ted Schultz and Sean Brady Ehsan Kayal, Iowa State University Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology Project Title: Molecular systematics of demosponges in the genomic era: developing new morphology-like molecular tools for taxonomic studies Advisor: Allen Collins Miguel Pinto, City University of New York Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Vertebrate Zoology Project Title: Evolutionary history of mammal-trypanosome associations using museum collections Advisor: Kristofer Helgen Eduardo Ribeiro, University of Chicago Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Anthropology Project Title: Language and prehistory in South America: A reconstruction of Proto-Je and an in-depth investigation of the Macro-Je hypothesis Advisor: William Merrill Erin Sigel, Duke University Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Botany Project Title: Phenotypic, Genetic, and Genomic Consequences of Allopolyploidy in Ferns: Establishing Polypodium hesperium as a Model System Advisors: Eric Schuettpelz and Ashley Egan


Lauren Spearman, Rutgers University Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Entomology Project Title: South African grasshopper communities through the lens of community phylogenetics and mathematical biodiversity assessment Advisor: Lee-Ann Hayek Nawa Sugiyama, Harvard University Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Anthropology Project Title: Felid Sacrifice: Re-assessing human-feline interactions in Ancient Mesoamerica Advisor: Torben Rick Maureen Turcatel, North Carolina State University Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Entomology Project Title: Exploring the evolutionary history of robber-flies (Asilidae) through novel molecular techniques Advisor: Torsten Dikow Adrian Van Allen, University of California at Berkeley Predoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Anthropology Project Title: Crafting Nature: Conservation, Biotechnology, and the Future of Collecting Advisor: Joshua Bell Laura Waters, University of Michigan Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mineral Sciences Project Title: Ascent Rates of Obsidians: Experiments and New Model Speedometer Advisor: Benjamin Andrews

the peter buck fellowship program€¦ · as of june 2014, the program has admitted 46 predoctoral...

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