| NSF Org: |
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 30, 2010 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 25, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 0968727 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anne Emig
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering O/D Office Of The Director |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2010 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $149,836.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $179,506.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2012 = $10,000.00 FY 2013 = $9,165.00 FY 2016 = $10,505.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE NEW ORLEANS LA US 70118-5665 (504)865-4000 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE NEW ORLEANS LA US 70118-5665 |
| 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): | IRES Track I: IRES Sites (IS) |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001314DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001617DB 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
This International Research Experience for Students (IRES) award entitled Fish Biodiversity Research and Education in Kenya provides a diverse group of US biology students from Tulane University and nearby historically Black universities in New Orleans with a program of language and cultural training and collaborative fish biodiversity research in Kenya. In each of the three award years, one graduate and three undergraduate students will travel to Kenya for field and laboratory research with collaborators at the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi. Prior to the five-week summer research experience, students will be trained in biodiversity research methods in the laboratory of US PI Henry Bart and culture and Kenyan language training at Tulane during the academic year.
The IRES program will train a cadre of undergraduate and graduate students in scientific methods and motivate them to pursue academic research careers and contribute to the U.S. scientific workforce. Participants will gain experience in all phases of scientific research from developing research questions and data gathering, to final publication and other forms of dissemination of research results. The project will leverage information and resources from the Cypriniformes Tree of Life Project. For the international collaborators, the project will help to build research capacity and infrastructure in the Ichthyology Section of the National Museums of Kenya, and will assist the country?s nascent effort to develop into a regional center for ichthyological research. Finally, from an institutional perspective, this project will serve as a model for international research and education programs across the curriculum.
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 goals of this project were to:
(1) Increase interest in international research and cultural experiences among biology students at Tulane University and Xavier University of Louisiana, an Historically Black University;
(2) Enhance and improve the cultural awareness and competence, foreign language skills, and capacity of biology students to work with foreign collaborators during the project and in the future;
(3) Increase the competitiveness of undergraduate and graduate students for future international biology and environmental research programs;
(4) Broaden perspectives of students, especially underrepresented U.S. minorities, to pursue research in ecology and evolutionary biology;
(5) Build capacity and meaningful research collaborations with the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and the University of Nairobi and assist the Fish Biology Section of NMK with building a state-of-the-art research collection of fishes.
Judging from our experiences and accomplishments during the project, all of these goals were met. Funding from the IRES Program enabled teams of U.S. and Kenyan researchers, graduate students, and equal numbers of U.S. and Kenyan undergraduates (24 in all) to samples fishes at 66 sites on rivers across central, southern and western Kenya during the summers of 2010-2012 (See Fig. 1). We also collected 545 fish tissue samples for molecular (DNA) sequencing analysis.
The project attracted the interest of USAID, which invited the PIs to participate in the USAID-NSF Pilot Program on International Science Collaboration (one of only six such pilot projects funded in 2010). Kenyan collaborators Nyingi and Gichuki were awarded two grants from what came to be called the Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research program for training and capacity building of Kenyan fish and fisheries biologists.
The project forged lasting relationships among the many professional and student participants, U.S. and Kenyan alike. All but one of the U.S. students have completed graduate degrees (Master's and Ph.D.'s). All of the Kenyan participants completed bachelor's degrees. A number of them are pursuing or have completed Master's and Ph.D. degrees and are currently employed as university and museum professionals in Kenya. PI Bart and Co-PI Nyingi developed a close professional relationship during the field sampling, many follow-up visits to Kenya and at professional conferences since the beginning of the project. The U.S. graduate assistant on the project, Dr. Ray Schmidt, also developed close ties to Dr. Nyingi and her associates while working in Kenya two years as a Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow. Schmidt is now pursuing important ichthyological research in other parts of Africa as a result of the Kenya IRES project.
U.S. project participants also enjoyed rich cultural experiences while in Kenya, including in include being in Kenya and witnessing firsthand Kenya?s historic referendum to approve its first constitution (2010); visiting the site of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing and memorial (2010); going on safari in Maasai Mara and visiting a Maasai village (2010); attending a performance of the Bomas of Kenya dance group (2010); visiting an animal orphanage outside Nairobi (2010); visiting NMK?s Kisumu Museum, in Kisumu, Kenya and learning about customs of Kenya?s Luo tribal people (2011); visiting the Village of Kogelo (the ancestral home of President Barak Obama?s father and grandfather) and meeting President Obama's paternal grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama (2011); becoming involved in the Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team (KENWEB) and learning about critical environmental issues confronting Kenyan wetlands (2011,-2012); visiting and sampling fishes in several of Kenya?s game parks (Amboseli, Meru, Nairobi National Park, Samburu, Shaba and Tsavo) and learning about big game conservation from biologists with the Kenya Wildlife Service (2010-2012).
Bart and Schmidt continued to visit Kenya and other parts of East Africa annually from 2013-2016, doing field work, conducting research, organizing and attending conferences, and leading professional-development workshops. Our focus now is on publishing papers based on our findings. Six papers reporting results of the study have already been published and several more are in preparation.
Last Modified: 11/24/2018
Modified by: Henry L Bart
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