Paleontological Research Institution

ENHANCED EARTH SYSTEM TEACHING THROUGH REAL EARTH INQUIRY

REORGANIZATION AND COMPUTERIZATION OF THE NON-TYPE SYSTEMATIC MOLLUSK COLLECTION OF THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION

IMPROVING THE STORAGE CONDITIONS AND BEGINNING DIGITIZATION OF THE PALEOZOIC STRATIGRAPHIC FOSSIL COLLECTIONS AT THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION

DIGITIZATION TCN: COLLABORATIVE: DOCUMENTING FOSSIL MARINE INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC: FAUNAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

BUILDING ON THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE: RESEARCH LABORATORIES FOR THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION

APPLICANT: PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION TITLE: A WATERSHED OF TREES: A MWEE TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF FOREST, WATER, CLIMATE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP OVERVIEW: THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO GET CHILDREN OUTSIDE IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY TO OBSERVE, RECORD, MONITOR, AND BUILD UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER AND CLIMATE ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, AND EMPOWER THEM TO ACT ON THAT UNDERSTANDING. THEY WILL DO THIS BY STUDYING THE IMPACT OF TREES ON THE MOVEMENT OF WATER THROUGH THE WATERSHED AND THE SUBSEQUENT CHANGES IN MICROCLIMATE AND WATER QUALITY THAT ARISE FROM WATER-VEGETATION INTERACTIONS. TREES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE CENTRAL PLAYER IN THIS PROPOSED DISTRICT-WIDE MWEE BECAUSE (1) THEY ARE PRESENT IN SCHOOLYARDS IN EACH OF THE DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS THAT COMPRISE THE COUNTY, FROM URBAN TO AGRICULTURAL, (2) THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF TREES PROFOUNDLY IMPACTS WATER MOVEMENT AND WATER QUALITY, WITH ADDITIONAL IMPACTS ON AM

THE ZINSMEISTER ANTARCTIC FOSSIL COLLECTION: ENHANCING ACCESSIBILITY TO THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BOCP IMPLEMENTATION: USING THE PAST TO PREDICT THE FUTURE: HOW PHYSIOLOGY AND OTHER FUNCTIONAL TRAITS DETERMINE SURVIVAL/EXTINCTION IN W. ATLANTIC MOLLUSKS -CLAMS AND SNAILS, KNOWN AS MOLLUSKS, ARE ABUNDANT AND DIVERSE ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE IMPORTANT INDICATORS OF OCEAN HEALTH AND PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL FOOD SOURCES FOR HUMANS. MANY OF THE SPECIES, OR THEIR CLOSE RELATIVES, ARE ALSO KNOWN AS FOSSILS THAT EXTEND BACK MORE THAN 3 MILLION YEARS. USING ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN AND FOSSIL MOLLUSKS, ALONG WITH EXPERIMENTS, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE WHICH FEATURES OF MOLLUSKS MADE THEM MOST LIKELY TO SURVIVE AS OCEAN CONDITIONS CHANGED OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MILLION YEARS. THE INFORMATION WILL BE COMBINED WITH COMPUTER MODELLING TO PREDICT WHICH SPECIES WILL SURVIVE AND WHICH WILL GO EXTINCT IN THE FUTURE. OUTREACH WILL BE PROVIDED TO K-12 STUDENTS, AND STUDENTS AT SEVERAL LEVELS WILL RECEIVE SCIENTIFIC TRAINING. A PHYSICAL AND ONLINE MUSEUM EXHIBIT ON MOLLUSKS WILL BE CREATED, AND DATA ABOUT THEM WILL BE SHARED ONLINE. THE WORK WILL USE FOSSIL AND MODERN MOLLUSKS FROM THE WESTERN ATLANTIC REGION TO DEVELOP A PREDICTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR WHICH SPECIES WILL SURVIVE AND WHICH WILL GO EXTINCT IN THE NEXT FEW CENTURIES. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE SEVERAL SPECIES PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT FOOD RESOURCES TO HUMANS. THE WORK WILL EXAMINE KEY FUNCTIONAL TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH LONG TERM SPECIES SURVIVAL, INCLUDING PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES SUCH AS METABOLIC RATE, WHICH IS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY OCEAN CONDITIONS, AND A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT PREDICTOR OF EXTINCTION PROBABILITY IN MARINE MOLLUSKS OVER THE LAST THREE MILLION YEARS. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ALSO WILL BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOLLUSK PHYSIOLOGY AND OCEAN CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION, ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELING WILL BE USED TO PLACE PAST AND PREDICTED FUTURE SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF PAST AND FORECASTED FUTURE MARINE CONDITIONS. ALL THIS WORK WILL BE DONE TO DEVELOP A PREDICTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PAST AND QUANTIFYING THE FUTURE OF THIS BIOTA. OUTREACH AND EDUCATION WILL BE PROVIDED TO K-12 STUDENTS IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. SEVERAL UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLARS WILL RECEIVE RESEARCH TRAINING. A PHYSICAL AND ONLINE MUSEUM EXHIBIT ON MOLLUSKS WILL BE CREATED, AND DATA ON THE STRATIGRAPHIC AND GEOGRAPHIC OCCURRENCE OF MOLLUSK SPECIES WILL BE SHARED ONLINE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

EAGER: NEOGENE FRUITS AND SEEDS FROM THE GRAY FOSSIL SITE, TENNESSEE: USING MULTIPLE IMAGING TECHNIQUES TO CLARIFY AN OBSCURE INTERVAL IN THE HISTORY OF APPALACHIAN VEGETATION

DIGITIZATION TCN: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CRETACEOUS WORLD: DIGITIZING FOSSILS TO RECONSTRUCT EVOLVING ECOSYSTEMS IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR SEAWAY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MASS EXTINCTION ECOLOGICAL RESPONSE AND RECOVERY IN THE CRETACEOUS/PALEOGENE GULF COASTAL PLAIN

DIGITIZATION PEN: ADDING UNIQUE MOLLUSCAN LIVE-DEAD DATA FROM THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION TO THE EASTERN SEABOARD TCN

EDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT: A CASE EXAMPLE FOCUSING ON MARCELLUS SHALE NATURAL GAS DRILLING

TRACKING CLIMATE IN YOUR BACKYARD: A MUSEUM 4-H COLLABORATIVE

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

ACQUISITION OF A NEW GENERATION BENCHTOP SEM FOR EARTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH, K-16 EDUCATION, AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE EFFECTS OF BROAD-SCALE CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON EVOLUTIONARY PATTERN: COMPARATIVE TEMPO AND MODE IN CRETACEOUS AND NEOGENE

THE MUSEUM OF THE EARTH WILL EXPAND ACCESS TO THE COLLECTION OF CENOZOIC CORALS FROM THE WESTERN ATLANTIC BY DIGITIZING SPECIMENS AND SHARING DATA THROUGH ONLINE PORTALS AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE PHOTOGRAPHING 200 SPECIMENS AND CREATING 50 ILLUSTRATED SPECIES PAGES THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THE MUSEUM’S FREE, WEB-BASED EDUCATIONAL PORTAL. THE MUSEUM WILL HIRE A COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT AND TRAIN THEM IN ALL ASPECTS OF SPECIMEN DIGITIZATION AND CURATION. A TEAM OF INTERNS AND VOLUNTEERS WILL BE TRAINED TO ASSOCIATE LABELS TO SPECIMENS, ENTER INFORMATION FOR THE SPECIMENS IN THE COLLECTIONS DATABASE, AND RE-BOX ITEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL ENHANCE THE COLLECTION’S LONG-TERM PRESERVATION AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR SCIENTISTS, STUDENTS, AND THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND HOW CORAL REEFS, WHICH ARE ONE OF THE OCEAN’S MOST THREATENED HABITATS, RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EXPLORING THE LINKS AMONG CLIMATE, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION IN PALEOGENE MARINE FAUNAS OF THE U.S. GULF COASTAL PLAIN

RAPID: GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION FOR COMMUNITIES IMPACTED BY GAS DRILLING IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE

THE MUSEUM OF THE EARTH WILL INCREASE PUBLIC ACCESS TO SPECIMENS IN THE RECENTLY-DONATED CORNELL UNIVERSITY MALACOLOGY COLLECTION. THE MUSEUM WILL DIGITIZE THE SPECIMENS, GEO-REFERENCE ASSOCIATED LOCALITIES, PHOTOGRAPH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TYPE SPECIMENS, AND DIGITIZE THE ORIGINAL LABELS. THE MUSEUM WILL THEN PHYSICALLY INTEGRATE THE CORNELL COLLECTION INTO ITS EXISTING MODERN MOLLUSK COLLECTION. ALL SPECIMEN DATA, INCLUDING IMAGES, WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE THROUGH THE INSTITUTION'S SEARCHABLE DATABASE AND OTHER DATA AGGREGATORS. COMPLETION OF THESE ACTIVITIES WILL ENHANCE THE COLLECTION'S LONG-TERM PRESERVATION AND INCREASE PUBLIC ACCESS, MAKING IT EASIER TO USE THE SPECIMENS IN EXHIBITS, TEACHING, PUBLIC OUTREACH, AND RESEARCH.

MY CLIMATE, MY COMMUNITY: SUSTAINABLE CLIMATE CHANGE EXHIBITS FOR RURAL AUDIENCES

LIVES UNEARTHED: A HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY

THE MUSEUM OF THE EARTH WILL DEVELOP THE HERE ON EARTH COMPONENT OF EARTH(AT)HOME ONLINE, AN OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE PLATFORM THAT WILL PROVIDE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS WITH REGIONALLY CONTEXTUALIZED GEOSCIENCE CONTENT AND CAREER PATH GUIDANCE THAT THEY CAN INTEGRATE INTO THEIR LESSONS AND CLASSROOMS. HERE ON EARTH WILL INCREASE AWARENESS OF EARTH SCIENCE AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, INCREASE AWARENESS OF GEOSCIENCE CAREERS, AND HELP DIVERSIFY THE GEOSCIENCES WORKFORCE. THE MUSEUM WILL PARTNER WITH HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE PROGRAMS, NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS, AND NATIONAL PUBLIC PARKS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO CONNECT EXISTING PRI EARTH SCIENCE LEARNING RESOURCES WITH A WIDER NATIONAL COMMUNITY OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THEIR STUDENTS. THIS ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCE FOR TEACHERS SEEKS TO ADDRESS THE WEAKNESS AND LIMITATIONS IN AVAILABLE ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCES EXPOSED DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

DIGITIZATION TCN: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DIGITIZING FOSSILS TO ENABLE NEW SYNTHESES IN BIOGEOGRAPHY - CREATING A PALEONICHES-TCN

PLANNING FOR A CHARTER SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY-MUSEUM PARTNERSHIP TO ENHANCE DIVERSITY IN THE GEOSCIENCES

GEOHISTORICAL BASELINES OF OSYTER REEF HEALTH: A PALEOECOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL

CONSERVATION PALEOBIOLOGY IN THE COMING DECADES; ITHACA, NY; SEPTEMBER 25-26, 2009

USING THE TOOLS OF CONSERVATION PALEOBIOLOGY TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE ENGINEERED SPRING-FLOOD OF THE COLORADO RIVER