We are in an era of rapidly changing climate, threatening animal species that form complex relationships with microbes for essential benefits. To understand how these interactions will respond to certain climate futures from molecular to ecological scales, we have established the NSF Biological Integration Institute, INSITE — The INstitute for Symbiotic Interactions, Teaching, and Education in the Face of a Changing Climate. INSITE brings together a multi-disciplinary team at the University of California Merced and Michigan State University.
The INSITE research team is seeking to recruit passionate junior scientists with wide-ranging interests in biology and applied math. INSITE’s research aims integrate studies of marine and terrestrial symbioses across the fields of ecology, evolution, physiology, bioinformatics, applied mathematics, and conservation biology to establish a foundational a set of expectations and a roadmap for the integrative understanding of symbioses under climate crises. Our integrated research approach established a training platform intended to break down interdisciplinary barriers to promote effective and seamless integration of multiple STEM disciplines. INSITE’s trainees will broaden the field of symbiosis to new biological systems and scientific frontiers, making INSITE fellows more competitive for various careers. As a community, INSITE aims to foster equity and diversity in STEM, where everyone’s input is equally respected by creating an atmosphere designed to recruit and retain people from diverse backgrounds in science.
