| NSF Org: |
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 30, 2010 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 3, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 0966884 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jessica Robin
jrobin@nsf.gov (703)292-8416 OISE Office of International Science and Engineering O/D Office Of The Director |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2010 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $3,800,001.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $3,905,831.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2012 = $1,064,744.00 FY 2013 = $876,937.00 FY 2014 = $651,523.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 (352)392-3516 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
SURFACE EARTH PROCESS SECTION, EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES, GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION, AISL, Sedimentary Geo & Paleobiology, GEO TEACH, Discovery Research K-12, PIRE- Prtnrshps Inter Res & Ed |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001213DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001314DB NSF Education & Human Resource 01001011DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.079 |
ABSTRACT
The New World Tropics (NWT) contain extraordinarily high levels of biodiversity that are threatened today by climate change, human impacts and extinction. Yet comparatively little is known about when this biodiversity originated and how it has evolved over time. This PIRE project seizes upon a unique opportunity for research presented by the Panama Canal expansion project in which fossil-bearing rock strata are being exposed for the first time since the canal's completion a century ago - a rare and exciting opportunity to significantly advance our knowledge of the origins and evolution of this rich biodiversity. This international research and education collaboration between four U.S. and three Panamanian institutions - the Panama Canal Project (PCP) - focuses on the systematic documentation of the ancient biodiversity of the NWT in the 25-million-year record preserved in the canal basin.
The PCP builds upon prior individual initiatives to collect and study fossil, geological, and archaeological samples in the canal basin where remarkable fossil discoveries provided a glimpse into the diverse ancient biota preserved in the basin. As excavation activities intensify over the next several years the PCP fossil recovery effort will exponentially add to the world's NWT fossil specimen collection for immediate study and to be housed in museum collections for future study. These fossils have the potential to transform our understanding of several significant geobiological issues including: the magnitude and timing of major episodes of diversity change in the NWT; the biogeographic origins, relationships, and dispersal history of Central American fauna and flora; the antiquity of the rainforest; and the temporal effects of global and regional climate change on tropical biodiversity. Also ripe for scientific exploration are fundamental questions relating to the impacts that the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama - which severed the marine connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and created the land bridge linking North and South America - had on ancient marine and terrestrial biota.
The next generation of international scientists produced by this project will be technically competent in their field of specialization, internationally experienced, and have a heightened appreciation for the broader impacts of science on society and the important role of science education. Through innovative international experiences participants will spend semesters or summers abroad working in the field and/or in laboratories, teaching in partner institutions, interning in museums, and learning another language and culture. Students and faculty will be engaged in a variety of outreach projects in Panama and the U.S., such as seminars, websites accessible to K-12 and public audiences, an on-line database enabling global-wide research access to the fossils, and bilingual educational courses. The PIRE program will add an international dimension to the career development of students earning traditional or non-traditional science degrees, preparing them for international engagement in academic or scientific research environments or alternate careers in science education, museums, NGOs, government agencies, and industry.
Participating institutions will use this PIRE award and partner funding to further develop, internationalize and strengthen scientific infrastructural capacity, particularly in fossil collections and museum technology areas, and sustain the benefits far beyond the lifetime of the project by institutionalizing the infrastructure and educational tools to be developed during the project. A new museum dedicated to biodiversity, the Biomuseo, will open near the canal in 2011 and this PIRE project will develop a bilingual travelling exhibit, Panama Canal Discoveries. This exhibit, complemented by coordinated web-based components, will be hosted at the three PCP museums and other venues throughout the U.S. and Panama. The Biomuseo and travelling exhibit are expected to engage a combined 750,000 international visitors annually. The PCP also presents an opportunity for the University of Florida - Florida Museum of Natural History to strengthen their recently re-designed museum collections information system, and test how new technologies might improve usability interfaces between PCP data resources and other on-line and literature-based scientific research databases. This PIRE project has the potential to leverage various institutional grants and initiatives, including new faculty, to add value to and sustain the PCP into the future.
The four key U.S. Institutions are: Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) at the University of Florida, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) - Panama campus, New Mexico Museum of Natural History (NMMNH), Florida State University - Panama Canal campus. The three international institutions are: Biomuseo (Ancón, Panamá), Universidad de Panamá, and Sociedad Mastozoológica de Panamá (SOMASPA). Panamanian funding partners include the Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT) and the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP).
This award is co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering, the Division of Earth Sciences, and the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The New World tropics today support an extraordinarily high biodiversity. However, because of dense vegetative cover, suitable fossil outcrops in the tropics are lacking and thus we have a poor understanding about the paleobiology of this region. The Panama Canal Project (PCP) benefitted from the once-in-a-century opportunity during the expansion of the Panama Canal. This expansion uncovered outcrops of fossiliferous sediments and volcanic rocks ranging in age from 23 to 10 million years ago (Miocene), times that are critical to understanding the evolution of modern tropical faunas and floras. The invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant fossils recovered from these sediments provide direct evidence of the extinct biodiversity that lived in ancient New World tropics prior to the closure of the Isthmus of Panama. PCP research deliverables and outcomes have included 100 talks presented at professional scientific meetings worldwide and 75 articles published in leading peer-reviewed journals.
In addition to the Research objectives described above, PIRE projects include three other principal components, i.e., Partnerships, International, and Education. Based at the University of Florida (UF), we developed partnerships with the New Mexico Museum of Nature and Science and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama (a U.S. affiliate). The PCP developed international partnerships with SENACYT (Panama science foundation), ACP (Panama Canal Authority), University of Panama, University of Chiriqui, and University of the Andes (Colombia). We partnered with the Explora Science Center (Colombia) and on an exhibit entitled “Giant Sharks and Tiny Camels” at the BioMuseo in Panama City, that was seen by more than 200,000 visitors.
The International component included experiences in Panama for 200 participants. Senior scientists, graduate students, undergraduates, lifelong learners, volunteers, and K-12 teachers were immersed in the scientific and cultural community in Panama and collected fossils and geological samples for analyses and study. During years 2 through 6 we instituted a “boots-on-the-ground” in-country internship experience that involved more than 40 participants and contributed significantly to our total of about 4,500 person days in the field. With regard to broadening representation, the PCP included half women and one-third minorities, including primarily Latinos, but also African Americans and Native Americans. Eight graduate students received their degrees and eight postdoctoral fellows advanced their research as part of the PCP. Twenty undergraduates who participated on the PCP subsequently went to graduate school.
The Broader Impacts of the PCP were further realized by a diverse suite of activities related to Education, both informal (in museums) and formal (K-12). In addition to the BioMuseo exhibit described above, in 2014 we displayed Panama fossils at the Florida Museum of Natural History (UF). In 2015, two PIs led an eight-day field trip in Panama with 30 lifelong learners (board members) affiliated with the FLMNH. Public talks were given at Explora in Colombia, six Rotary clubs (Gainesville FL, Santa Cruz CA), 10 fossil clubs (primarily FL), one community center (NM), and one science café; collectively these were attended by about 1000 people.
PCP-related graduate courses were taught during six semesters at UF and a course on paleontology was taught to undergraduates at the University of Panama. The research content of the PCP has been disseminated to a dozen other UF graduate and undergraduate courses. About 50 invited seminars based on the PCP have been presented at institutions of higher education in AL, CA, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, MD, NY, NC, TN, and TX, as well as in Panama and Germany.
During years 2 through 6 a major outreach component included 50 STEM teachers from CA, FL, OH, and NM. These teachers worked alongside scientists making important field discoveries in Panama. Back in their classrooms the teachers developed more than 50 lesson plans on fossils and paleontology aligned to STEM standards (e.g., NGSS). Each year these teachers continue to collectively impact more than 5000 K-12 students.
The PCP web site (https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/index.php/panama-pire/home/) provides a project overview. We established a blog (www.pcppire.wordpress.com) that allowed museum and field interns to write about their day-to-day experiences, as well as draw attention to PCP PIRE research. As of mid 2016, the PCP had 358 Facebook Likes and 188 Twitter Followers. We published 48 e-newsletters containing over 200 articles in both English and Spanish that were distributed to 375 e-subscribers.
Now that the excavations along the Panama Canal have drawn to a close, the fossiliferous outcrops are quickly becoming overgrown with tropical vegetation. As such, the opportunity to continue field-based paleontological research and discovery is now past. Nevertheless, the legacy of the PCP PIRE will be sustained by the education of the next generation of globally competent scientists, field samples and fossils collected, web-based archives and publically accessible databases, K-12 lesson plans, and peer-reviewed articles that advance knowledge about the ancient biodiversity of the New World tropics.
Last Modified: 09/08/2016
Modified by: Bruce J Macfadden
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