This website was created and is maintained as a result of the NSF-funded projects, Award 1500963 ("Evolution of Angiosperm Seed Development: perspectives from Nymphaea thermarum (Nymphaeales)), and Award 1812116 (Identifying Deeply Conserved Patterns of Epigenetic Modification and Imprinting during Seed Development).
The website was built and is maintained by Rebecca Povilus, who completed Ph.D in the Friedman lab at Harvard University and the Arnold Arboretum, and is now a post-doctoral researched in the Gehring Lab at the Whitehead Institute.
By aggregating knowledge about Nymphaea thermarum and connecting the people who work with this species, this website aims to encourage the use of this species in scientific research programs. In doing so, two goals are addressed:
The website was built and is maintained by Rebecca Povilus, who completed Ph.D in the Friedman lab at Harvard University and the Arnold Arboretum, and is now a post-doctoral researched in the Gehring Lab at the Whitehead Institute.
By aggregating knowledge about Nymphaea thermarum and connecting the people who work with this species, this website aims to encourage the use of this species in scientific research programs. In doing so, two goals are addressed:
1) Promote Nymphaea thermarum as a 'model' system for evolutionary biology
Nymphaea thermarum is a tractable experimental system within one of the most early-diverging lineages of flowering plants. Sharing protocols and genomic resources will make it easier for more people to work with this species, and in doing so learn more about the biology and evolutionary history this species . This information will, in turn, provide perspective on the evolution of key flowering plants traits.
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2) Raise awareness that biodiversity is important for scientific research
Exploring and preserving natural biodiversity is essential for furthering basic scientific research. It was only though the work sponsored by botanical gardens that this species was described and conserved before all natural populations disappeared.
Funding for botanical gardens is becoming increasing scarce. However, botanical gardens not only support exploration of plant biodiversity, but are important for maintaining germplasm of rare and endangered species. Without these institutions, Nymphaea thermarum and many other species would have gone extinct before we even knew that they existed. As people study Nymphaea thermarum, we are not only building a knowledge base that can help conserve this species, but we are showing that even the smallest, rarest species can have a big impact on science. |