Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Dynamics of evolutionary rescue in giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera)

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2024, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Organisms are facing new environmental threats because of climate change.

Understanding why and how some populations persist despite stressful conditions is paramount to protecting life. This project uses genetic tools to understand adaptation to heat stress in giant kelp. Giant kelp is an ecologically important species under threat from climate change.

During ocean warming events, giant kelp undergo extreme declines. Many populations recover shortly afterwards, but it is unclear how resilient kelp will be as ocean temperatures continue to rise. Using samples from before and after a marine heat wave, this project will measure the impact of warming on kelp populations and identify genetic variants underlying heat tolerance.

These results will provide a foundation for the understanding of how wild populations adapt and persist and inform the management of giant kelp. The fellow will incorporate results into climate change education programs.

Adaptation is one mechanism by which populations and species can meet environmental challenges posed by climate change. This project investigates adaptive genetic variation in giant kelp with three objectives: (1) Determine if warming events are associated with genetic signatures of population decline, (2) Identify adaptive variants that play an important role in the resiliency of giant kelp to warming events, (3) Determine the history of adaptive variants, including their origin and age.

Vital contributions of this project include an assessment of the frequency at which adaptive variants are generated through new mutations or exist as standing genetic variation and the importance of their dispersal through gene flow for facilitating adaptation and population persistence. The fellow will receive training in whole-genome and low-coverage bioinformatics, analyses for determining gene function, and experience building collaborations with diverse groups of stakeholders and conservation managers.

The large genomic dataset generated as part of this project will provide opportunities for the mentorship of undergraduate students. As part of the broader impacts of the project, the fellow will develop solution-forward climate change educational materials and lead workshops for high school classrooms informed by the results of this research.

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.