NSF RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK:

1. NSF RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK: E-BIRD USA: Integrating Ecology and Endocrinology in Avian Reproduction John C. Wingfield, Principal Investigator, & M. Zoe Holbrooks, Program Coordinator Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 http://depts.washington.edu/ebirdusa • OUR ACTIVITIES, OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS & OUR UNIQUE OUTCOMES • Technical meetings are small events (10-20 participants) focusing on methodological and conceptual issues of unique problems in relating ecology and endocrinology. The intent is to identify mechanisms that can be brought to bear on novel investigations including those with conservation emphasis. • Analysis of Hormones in Droppings and Egg-yolk in Birds (Seewiesen, Germany – October 20-22, 2004) • Three days • Twelve international presenters • Sixteen reports published as W. Goymann, S. Jenni-Eiermann & U. Bauchinger (Eds.): Bird Hormones and Bird Migrations: Analyzing Hormones in Droppings and Egg-Yolks and Assessing Adaptations in Long-Distance Migration. (New York: NYAS, 2005; Annals New York Academy of Sciences 1046). • Workshops are larger events (up to 80 participants) and are aimed at synthesizing current literature into new concepts and research directions, especially the development of ecologically-based studies at the physiological, cell and molecular levels. • Trade-offs and Constraints (Wageningen,The Netherlands – November 5-8, 2004) • Four days • Fifty-one international presenters • Thirty-five presentations and posters • Maternal Effects Workshop (Seattle, Washington - September 16-18, 2005): • Seventy researchers, graduate students and post-docs from 33 institutions in Europe, Canada, and the United States • Twenty-two presentations • Two poster sessions • Environmental Endocrinology Short Course (Nordens Ark, Sweden - August 15-19, 2005) - Introduce the student to the field of endocrinology, particularly in the vertebrate classes. The course is organized into three parts: (1) General principles of endocrinology (i.e. functions of the endocrine system, hormone structure, synthesis, secretion, action, and basic techniques); (2) physiology of the endocrine system; and (3) environmental endocrinology. • Five days • Twenty-five lectures, lab and field exercises, student presentations, project design • Twenty international graduate students • Exchange Visits • Encourage young researchers to gain professional skills by providing funding for short visits to different labs. • Build connections with established scientists in their disciplines. • Foster cross-disciplinary endeavors. • Share experience and lessons learned by disseminating post-visit reports through website. • Two U.S. student visits funded in 2005; next application deadline is 9/30/05. • Listserv • Promotes scientific discourse by providing a discussion forum open to all interested parties. • Archives of past postings. • Serves as a conduit of useful information about professional development opportunities, upcoming events, etc. • Resource for technical questions from students and researchers investigating new methodologies, concepts, sources, etc. • Provides post-event forum for discussions on topics covered in technical meetings and workshops. • Website • Current information on E-Bird network activities. • Calendar of professional conferences and network deadlines. • Directory of network participants’ websites. • Directory of network lab and institutional websites. • Employment and funding information. • Bibliography of relevant literature. • Environmental Endocrinology course materials. • Links to avian biology and environmental education materials for K20 science teachers. • Focus on diversity: Getting Started in Your Bioscience Career, People and Projects in the Biosciences page. • WHAT’S NEXT? • More technical meetings and workshops: • Allostasis (technical meeting) – an emerging concept unifying energetic demand in the normal lifecycle and in response to stress; • New Techniques (technical meeting) – designed to alert the network to emerging techniques for integrating ecology and endocrinology, and equally important, identifying what new techniques need to be developed; • Individual Variation (workshop) - past endocrinological work has focused at population level, this workshop will promote networking on how to conceptualize endocrine mechanisms at the individual level. • Web-based group-study and self-study courses: • Specific emphasis on integrating two disparate fields – ecology and endocrinology. • Cross-disciplinary instruction. • Integrating theory, laboratory and field experimental design and synthesis of resulting data to generate new concepts. • Career & professional development resources • Challenges to Recruiting and Retaining Underserved and Underrepresented Students. • Challenges to Promoting Cross-Disciplinary Thinking and Research Collaboration. • Challenges to Promoting Diversity in the Profession. • Streaming media presentations. • Digital library of significant resources. • Building the Future • K20 student outreach. • Multicultural resources for teachers. • Training cross-disciplinary researchers, leaders of the future. • More student exchange visits aimed at crossing boundaries that still divide research fields. Communicating: Our website lets our members keep up with network events and projects, and link to the ESF E-Bird and E-Bird Canada sites. Users can also access the zonotric list and its archives, and course materials. ABSTRACT We coordinate the research activities of ecologists and endocrinologists on a specific theme - reproduction in birds. The network covers the full spectrum from field ecology to molecular mechanisms. Avian reproduction provides an ideal focus because of an extensive existing literature on topics ranging from genes to ecosystems. The network also facilitates the evolution of a truly integrative, biology curriculum at the K-12, undergraduate and graduate levels, including conservation biology. • OUR GOALS • Develop a framework whereby ecologists and endocrinologists can collaborate directly using avian reproduction as a model system. This framework will ultimately apply to all taxa because the principles involved will be universal. • Develop theoretical and practical ways by which two disparate disciplines – ecology and endocrinology – can interact, resulting in new techniques and data bases that will set the stage for future integrative research on other topics. • Hold workshops to help formulate ideas, technical meetings (smaller groups) to target specific informational needs and methods to integrate and analyze data, and individual laboratory exchange visits to implement these. • Disseminate information via a website (the focal point of the network), includingreports from workshops, technical meetings and exchange visits; extensive literature citations; and formal presentations of new theoretical frameworks and techniques. • Provide a forum (listserv) where participants can post their comments, criticisms and identify potential problems and future directions. • Support and encourage participation of regular faculty members, students and postdoctoral associates at all levels of the network, allowing each to contribute to the theme in one or several ways, thus building research programs far greater and further reaching than anything more specialized research teams could accomplish. • Closely coordinate with European and Canadian initiatives on the same topic – “Adaptation and Constraints in Avian Reproduction: Integrating Ecology and Endocrinology (E-BIRD).” Communicating: Our Email List Students in the EE Short Course participating in a field demonstration (left) and presenting project designs (right). (Photos: J.C. Wingfield) WHAT DOES THE EBIRD-USA NETWORK LOOK LIKE? Ninety researchers, faculty, students (undergraduate and graduate), and post-docs at nearly three dozen facilities and institutions across the United States, Japan, and Chile, including: Collaborating: Bibliography & Digital Library Developing Future Researchers: Exchange Visits Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) (Photo: Kiran Soma)