OVert: Open Exploration of Vertebrate Diversity in 3D: Difference between revisions

OVert: Open Exploration of Vertebrate Diversity in 3D (view source)

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 ''Principal Investigators: [mailto:tapaleif@isu.edu Leif Tapanila] (PI), David Blackburn (Co-PI)
+=== Functional Quantitative Characters for Ecology and Evolution (FuncQEE) ===
+An award is made to Chicago State University to join the oVert Thematic Collection Network (TCN) as a Partner to an Existing Network (PEN). Computed tomography (CT) scanning will be used to provide 3D data relating to structural diversity for ca. 1,700 specimens of rodents. Rodents are among the most common but also among the most diverse mammals on the planet. They are found in virtually every terrestrial ecosystem, with species ranging from guinea pigs, to prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, flying squirrels, capybaras, lemmings, house mice, and sewer rats. Across this diversity, their bodies vary considerably in size and shape as they adapted to distinct habitats (e.g., Arctic tundra, grasslands, temperate and tropical forests), locomotion (e.g. terrestrial, arboreal, swimming, burrowing habits), feeding preferences (e.g., insectivores, granivores, herbivores, or generalists), and more. Given these vast differences, this project will provide 3D digitized data making it possible to examine and quantify the characters found in this radiation of diversity throughout the rodent tree of life. Undergraduate students at an MSI (Chicago State University) will be trained in CT-scan image processing
+The project will generate computed tomography (CT) scans as a basis for 3D modeling of structural diversity for 1,700 specimens of rodents. Sampling will focus on less common species. The 3D data will be available to researchers and educators via MorphoSource. These data will enable studies on functional quantitative characters for ecology and evolution (FuncQEE) as well as studies and lessons ranging from physiology to biomedical applications. The project will bring together scientists and educators from Chicago State University, University of Michigan, University of New Mexico, University of Florida, and Sandia National Laboratory. Master's degree candidates and undergraduate students will receive training, including an effort to provide opportunities for underrepresented, first generation, and/or low-income students in science careers in cutting edge visualization and analytical approaches.
+''Project Sponsor'': Chicago State University [https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1902105&HistoricalAwards=false (NSF Award 1902105)]
+''Principal Investigators:'' [mailto:delasancha@msn.com Noe de la Sancha] (Principal Investigator), David Blackburn (co-PI), Cody Thompson (co-PI)
+=== The oUTCT PEN: Outwardly Mobilizing the UTCT Vertebrate Archive for Research and Training ===
+The University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray CT Facility (UTCT) was established in 1997 to make HRXCT - a direct descendant of medical CT - available to researchers in the natural sciences. Through this award, oUTCT will partner with the oVert (openVertebrate) project to make nearly nine terabytes of existing high-resolution X-ray computed tomographic (HRXCT) data publicly accessible, and to train the next generation of students in best practices for these data. Scientists from around the world have brought their most important and precious natural history specimens to UTCT to image and measure their interior features nondestructively. This application of HRXCT technology has been tremendously successful, resulting in the proliferation of scanners at institutions across the country. Over the course of two years, oUTCT will upload HRXCT data for 90 UTCT clients to MorphoSource. About 3000 specimen scans, representing nearly 1,500 fossil and extant vertebrate species, will be made available so they can be easily discovered and downloaded by everyone from scientists to artists to K-12 educators. This mobilization will be accomplished by undergraduate students employed at UTCT, who will learn the basics of HRXCT data acquisition and visualization as well as basic bioinformatics.
+The UTCT datasets, acquired in part via dozens of NSF grants and cited more than 18,000 times in academic publications, remain in high demand due to their broad scope, high data quality, and historical significance. This demand has been fueled in part by the public-facing Digital Library of Morphology (DigiMorph.org), an NSF-funded project online since 2002 and housed at UTCT, which serves HRXCT-derived animations for more than 1,000 biological and paleontological specimens. In the oUTCT project, UTCT and DigiMorph will partner with oVert and iDigBio, both at the University of Florida, and the MorphoSource data repository at Duke University to make this unparalleled collection of HRXCT datasets more readily discoverable and more easily repurposed. As part of the educational outreach for this project, oUTCT will also provide training to the oVert community, which spans nearly 20 universities and academic institutions, to maximize the scientific impact of that project. The UTCT will host two short courses per year, cosponsored by oVert and iDigBio, to train students and scientists associated with oVert and MorphoSource in the fundamentals of HRXCT data acquisition, visualization, analysis, and long-term management. These activities will expand the impact of the original oVert project and maximize the return on NSF?s investment in it, UTCT, DigiMorph, iDigBio, and MorphoSource.
+''Project Sponsor:'' University of Texas at Austin [https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1902242&HistoricalAwards=false (NSF Award 1902242)]
+''Principal Investigators:'' [mailto:maisano@mail.utexas.edu Jessica Maisano] (PI), David Blackburn (co-PI)