A research team led by professors Ken Halanych and Scott Santos received a grant of $3 million from the National Science Foundation in association with the Assembling the Tree of Life program.
Of this amount, $1.4 million goes directly to the Molette Biology Laboratory for Environmental and Climate Change Studies at Auburn.
The Assembling the Tree of Life project works to design a framework phylogeny and resolve evolutionary relationships in large organism groups.
"The goal of the program is to understand the diversity of life on the planet and how the earth's species are related," Santos said. "Our team will be studying annelids, or segmented worms, one of the most abundant organisms on the planet and who have important functions in the environments and commercial enterprises."
Presently, about 16,500 annelid worm species are recognized around the world.
The grant includes significant outreach components, including training classes to be held at the Smithsonian Institution labs in Panama and the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories.
"These organisms have crucial functions in numerous ecosystems, and some have commercial or medical value," Halanych said. "However, we have very little understanding of their evolution or how they are related."
Santos' specific role is the bioinformatic.
"Bioinformatics is figuring out how to best utilize computer technology to effectively analyze, store and retrieve all of the data that will be generated," Santos said. "It is one of the fastest growing sub-disciplines in the sciences at the moment, and I encourage all undergraduates in biology and computer sciences to explore the opportunities in this exploding field."
Halanych manages the overall progress of the team's work.
"My job includes determining which specific species will be examined, organizing the field expeditions, assessing progress and quality control of the laboratory work," Halanych said, "and making sure the work is analyzed and published in a timely manner."
The team also consists of international researchers from Colgate University, the University of Kansas, Texas A&M at Galveston, the University of Southern Illinois Carbondale, the University of Osnabrueck in Germany and the University of Goethenberg in Sweden.
Students at each university aid the professors by working in the research labs.
"Dr. Halanych and I strongly believe that having undergraduate students involved in research contributes directly to their current and future success at Auburn and beyond," Santos said. "This award will allow us to continue offering undergraduates the opportunity of earning real experience in a laboratory setting."
The grant funds materials for research, the process of data acquisition and travel costs for collecting samples.
A large part of the funding is allocated for the education and scientific training of individuals, like graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Auburn, as well as at the other participating institutions.
The team's proposal had to pass through three phases to gain approval from the NSF, including a peer review by experts.
"We were quite fortunate, since less than 10 percent of grant submissions to NSF actually make it to the third phase," Santos said. "At the international, national and regional levels, it furthers Auburn University's place as a respected institution of higher learning, as well as being on the forefront of cutting-edge research."
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