NSF & NIH research on the Mammal Collection

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) fund research in a wide range of disciplines that rely heavily on museum specimens. Since 2005, over 50 projects funded by NSF or NIH have used specimens from UAMN's Mammal Collection alone, representing $65,825,391 invested in specimen-based research. Read more about these projects by clicking on the grant numbers.


. Possible linkages between ecosystem measures and the demographics of a Weddell seal population ($220,376)

. Use of a long-term data base and molecular genetic techniques to examine the behavioral ecology and dynamics of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) population ($510,005)

. Investigating complex human-ecological relationships over multidimensional scales: the Sanak Islands Project ($388,082)

. BE/CNH: Complex ecosystem interactions over multiple spatial and temporal scales: the biocomplexity of Sanak Island ($1,379,854)

, . Collaborative Research: RUI: The impacts of arctic and alpine refugia on genetic divergence in tundra flora ($627,097)

. Human response to climate change at Cape Espenberg AD 800-1400 ($991,956)

. Investigating the genetic and morphological outcomes of the colonization of new environments ($138,000)

. The Beringian Coevolution Project: Mammals and associated macro- and microparasites ($260,900)

. Dissertation Research: Molecular and morphological perspectives on the dynamics of a post-glacial contact zone  ($11,018)

. Beringian Coevolution Project II ($542,690)

. Collaborative Research: Systematics, biogeography, and ecogeographic variation in treeshrews (Mammalia, Scandentia) ($351,447)

. Molecular and functional basis of agouti camouflage in Peromyscus populations ($308,000)

. Collaborative Research: A complete species level phylogeny of the Carnivora ($374,992)

. Dissertation Research: Thrice through Beringia? Unraveling the evolution of North American pikas ($9,314)

, , . Collaborative Research: A novel phylogenetic approach to the analysis of bat phylogenetics and morphological evolution ($351,447)

. The effect of sociality on transmission and spread of a multi-host pathogen ($1,999,999)

. An integrated approach to understanding evolutionary transformations in craniodental and locomotor specializations ($398,944)

. Dissertation Research: The impact of ecological traits on the immunogenetic evolution of bats ($20,822)

. Collaborative Research: VertLife Terrestrial: A complete, global assembly of phylogenetic, trait, spatial and environment characteristics for a model clade ($364,238)

. Cityscape genomics of rats in New York City ($640,511)

. Phylogeny and rates of evolution of the Carnivora (Mammalia) ($185,000)

. Biogeography of Malagasy carnivores ($76,000)

Interaction of water with polymer surfaces: Consequence on wetting, adhesion, and friction ($405,000)

. EID: Ecological influences on rabies infections in bats ($1,520,000)

. Collaborative Research: Changes in ecosystem production and benthic biodiversity following the widespread loss of an ecosystem engineer ($355,985)

Using natural variation to educate, innovate, and lead (UNVEIL): A collaborative research network to advance genome-to-phenome connections in the wild ($4,000,000)

. WALRUS - Walrus Adaptability and Long-term Responses; Using multi-proxy data to project Sustainability ($1,707,331)

. Bering Strait socio-economic organization, ca. 2000-200 BP: A view from Port Clarence ($48,201)

. Collaborative Research: Birnirk prehistory and the emergence of Inupiaq Culture in Northwestern Alaska, archaeological and anthropological perspectives ($653,854)

Collaborative Research: The Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO)-a change detection array in the Pacific Arctic region ($813,701)

. The science of the narwhal through technological innovation, HoloLens ($30,004)

Collaborative Research: Experimental assessment of dental microwear formation ($72,548)

Collaborative Research: Adding animals to the equation: linking observational, experimental and modeling approaches to assess herbivore impacts on carbon cycling in northern Alaska ($621,488)

OPUS: MCS: Using modern methods with historical museum specimens to elucidate the evolution of a widespread, ecologically important rodent species ($249,269)

Collaborative Research: Mercury Dynamics from the Holocene to the Anthropocene: Tracking Aleutian Mercury in Ocean Species important to Native Alaskan Diets ($2,259,411)

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Mechanisms driving food web dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems ($138,000)

OPP-PRF: Investigating the Effects of Late Holocene Climate Change on Polar Bears ($295,151)

Collaborative Research: Modeling organismal responses to changing ecological regimes via investigation of stress, growth and reproduction in the longest-lived ($599,634)

CAREER: Museomic approach for exploring the evolution of past, persistent, and emerging orthopoxvirus outbreaks ($1,031,852)

Collaborative Research: PurSUiT: Systematic viral discovery through structured search of host phylogeny ($737,127)

Postdoctoral Fellowship: EAR-PF: Is there a taphonomic clock? Assessing the progression of terrestrial bone alterations across environments and time ($180,000)

Large-scale CoPe Hub: Rising Voices, Changing Coasts: The National Indigenous and Earth Sciences Convergence Hub ($20,000,000)

. Population genetics and evolution of mobile elements ($9,011,729)

. Overcoming disuse atrophy and osteoporosis in hibernating mammals ($363,000)

. Type D retrovirus and pulmonary carcinoma ($239,045)

. Diversity and dispersal potential of bat-borne zoonotic viruses in the Indo-Australian Archipelago ($195,802)

Functional Annotation of Genomes via Phenotypic Convergence within Large Multi-species Alignments ($558,487)

Molecular control of cardiac regenerative potential ($5,077,371)

Mammalian Hibernation Research- A Path Towards a Center for Transformative Research in Metabolism ($2,307,661)

Comparative Genomics of Longevity ($2,203,048)