EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Building capacity in museomics to advance evolutionary discovery and use-inspired science

This Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) EPSCoR Research Fellows project provides a fellowship to an Assistant Professor and a graduate student at Boise State University. This work is conducted in collaboration with collaborators at University of California—Santa Cruz. The fellowship will build expertise in museomics—the extraction and analysis of DNA from historic museum specimens. Using these approaches, the project will address questions about the evolutionary history of a culturally and ecologically important bird from North America: the Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). The PI will partner with state agencies to clarify the subspecies status of Sharp-tailed Grouse populations to inform conservation and management. The fellowship will strengthen Idaho's research infrastructure by expanding genomic analysis of museum collections. The project will support STEM workforce development by training students in genomics, bioinformatics, and evolutionary biology. The goal of this EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Research Fellows award is to build capacity in museomics—DNA extraction, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis of historic museum specimens—at Boise State University through a fellowship with University of California, Santa Cruz. Using genomes from historic Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) specimens, the project will resolve the timing of diversification and evolutionary relationships among seven described subspecies, including one putatively extinct taxon. It will also provide a rare empirical test of genetic diversity change over the past century. PI Galla will establish foundational museomics infrastructure at Boise State and inform the development of a historical DNA extraction facility. The project will broaden participation in STEM by mentoring an M.S. student in collaborative genomic research. In partnership with the College of Idaho, the project will co-develop teaching modules for undergraduate courses in ecology, evolution, and genetics, reaching hundreds of students annually. Finally, PI Galla will establish partnerships with state conservation agencies to ensure project outcomes inform Sharp-tailed Grouse management. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Fellows (ERF). The ERF program supports early- and mid-career investigators in eligible jurisdictions to develop collaborations at the nation’s private, government, or academic research institutions 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.