This article originally appeared here.
Ants are among the most numerous insects in the world, numbering from 10-100,000 trillion individuals globally with more than 10,000 species. But you dont have to tell that to John Jack Longino, professor of biology.
Known affectionately as Ant Man in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah and beyond, Longino is part of a globe-spanning initiative called the Ants of the World Project that aims to generate the most complete phylogenetic tree of the ant family (Formicidae) to date.
Part of that project is Ant Course, a regularly occurring field course on ant biology and identification. After three years of accommodating the pandemic, this year the group, involving multiple research universities, is convening in Vietnam Aug. 1-13. During the course, the worlds ant identification experts get together to teach 24 students all about ants. Beginning in 2001, the course has been staged in the United States, Costa Rica, Venezuela, French Guiana, Peru, Uganda, Mozambique, Borneo and Australia.
These courses have become famous, says Longino, with generations of students being shaped and connected by their Ant Course experience. The Ants of the World project, he explains, integrates teaching and research. The initiative funds three new Ant Courses in locations that are poorly known, training new generations of ant biologists while they learn about the ants of these regions.
After a long delay due to COVID, we are finally offering our first Ant Course, in Vietnam, says Longino of their field site in Cc Phng National Park, just south of Hanoi. Im really looking forward to meeting this new group of students, interacting with Asian colleagues, and experiencing first-hand the ant fauna of Southeast Asia. Situated in the foothills of the northern Annamite Range, the national park consists of verdant karst mountains and lush valleys with an elevation that varies from 150 meters (500 feet) to 656 m (2,152 feet) at the summit of May Bac Mountain, or Silver Cloud Mountain.
Its all part of Ants of the World Projects attempt to survey nearly all ant genera and just under half the described species using advanced genome reduction techniques. The result will be a comprehensive evolutionary tree of ants, out to the smallest branch tips.
The resulting data set will help researchers answer questions: Are there predictable patterns of intercontinental dispersal and diversification? Following dispersal to a new region, is there accelerated filling of morphological and climate space? How have biotas responded to climate shifts in the past? Can we predict how ants will respond to the current rapid climate change?
Longino and Elaine Tan, a graduate student in the Longino lab, will be meeting up with 34 other ant specialists and ant specialists-to-be. Along with Ant Man, course faculty include the other principal investigators of the Ants of the World Project: Michael Branstetter (USDA-ARS), Bonnie Blaimer (Museum fr Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany), Brian Fisher (California Academy of Sciences) and Philip Ward (UC Davis).
While Ants of the World is a collaboration of four different institutions, including the School of Biological Sciences at the U, Ant Course is organized and run by the California Academy of Science and is designed for scholars to share information and discover together the ants of a particular region. It applies ant biology to established areas of inquiry but also encourages students to ask new questions.
Zahra Saifee is a University of Utah intern who will be accompanying the team as a scientific communications specialist. She says of Ant Course, it really is about the ants, what new species there are in [a particular region and] where species overlap. The team discusses their observations of what theyre doing with others across the world. The core is bringing diverse people to nerd out about it for two weeks.
A lot of the time in Vietnam, says Saifee, is set up just to explore and see what people will find. Curiosity is at a premium, bringing observations to the group as a sounding board. People can bring to the group rough drafts of research and ideas.
This open-door approach to discovery was transformative for Rodolfo Probst, Ph.D., a member of the Longino lab who successfully defended his dissertation just this month. His 2013 Ant Course experience in Borneo connected him to a years work back east following his graduation from college before he settled into graduate school as part of Longinos lab.
Ants are the focus of that labs research but its not just about ants. The research goals of the Longino lab involve reciprocal illumination, in which the latest evolutionary concepts of species formation, combined with the latest genetic tools, allow the construction of a detailed biodiversity map of ants. The patterns revealed in the map then inform general concepts of biological diversification.
The research has the additional benefit of allowing other researchers, like those students participating in Ant Course, to more easily identify ants. To this end, Longino helps curate a large online specimen and image database, a major resource for ant researchers worldwide.
To study the way ants network can potentially speak to the design and character of larger ecosystems, Saifee suggests, making the study of ants more than a niche science. It propels one to look at the larger picture of lifenot just its wonders, but its changes and adaptations. In short, its ecology and evolution. There are a lot of different species [of ants] and how we organize data is key to new scientific discoveries, concludes Saifee.
Making new discoveries about ants is important because, as subject models, they are on par with vertebrates and vascular plants as key taxa for ecology, evolutionary biology, biogeography, conservation biology and public interest. Having a solid phylogenetic history opens entire new worlds of biological exploration and has been achieved for vertebrates and many plants. With a little more effort, much of which is being addressed by the NSF-funded Ants of the World project, the same can be true for ants.
And Ant Course in Vietnam is currently at the center of that ambition.
Follow Ant Course on its blog here, also on Twitter @AntsProject. You can read a student profile of graduate student Elaine Tan, who is accompanying Jack Longino to Vietnam here.
See the original post here:
Seeing the world through ants | @theU - @theU
- Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology | Center for Vascular Biology | Weill Cornell ... [Last Updated On: April 13th, 2018] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2018]
- APVBO-Asia Pacific Vascular Biology Organization Conference [Last Updated On: April 18th, 2018] [Originally Added On: April 18th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology Conferences | Vascular Surgery ... [Last Updated On: May 5th, 2018] [Originally Added On: May 5th, 2018]
- Vascular Discovery: From Genes to Medicine [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2018] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2018]
- 2019 Vascular Cell Biology Conference GRC [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2018] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2018]
- Biology 211: Taxonomy of Flowering Plants [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2018] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2018]
- esm-evbo2019.org - Menu [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2018] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology | Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical ... [Last Updated On: November 16th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 16th, 2018]
- Lower vascular plant | biology | Britannica.com [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology - NAVBO [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2018]
- 2019 Cerebral Vascular Biology Conference - cvent.com [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2018]
- PPARs and Their Emerging Role in Vascular Biology ... [Last Updated On: November 26th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 26th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology Chicago Medicine [Last Updated On: November 30th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 30th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology | Society for Vascular Surgery [Last Updated On: November 30th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 30th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology 2018 - NAVBO [Last Updated On: December 19th, 2018] [Originally Added On: December 19th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology 2019 - NAVBO [Last Updated On: December 20th, 2018] [Originally Added On: December 20th, 2018]
- Vascular Biology [Last Updated On: January 22nd, 2019] [Originally Added On: January 22nd, 2019]
- pvb2019.org Plant Vascular Biology Conference 2019 [Last Updated On: January 31st, 2019] [Originally Added On: January 31st, 2019]
- Plant Physiology | Basic Biology [Last Updated On: March 12th, 2019] [Originally Added On: March 12th, 2019]
- Awards - esm-evbo2019.org [Last Updated On: April 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: April 23rd, 2019]
- Medication and Exercise to Prevent Muscle Loss - Next Avenue [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2019]
- A Snail as Fast as a Bullet, and Other Darwin-Defying Marvels - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2019]
- Nature up close: Life in the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve - CBS News [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2019]
- Oklahoma new hires and promotions announced - Oklahoman.com [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2019]
- Quinn Capers IV, MD - TCTMD [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2019]
- Cardiovascular Repair And Reconstruction Devices Market Global Industry Insights by Top Vendors, Growth, Revenue and Forecast Outlook 2019-2025 -... [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2019]
- Four health projects at Boston Childrens Hospital that could help adults - The Boston Globe [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2019]
- Research Officer/ Postdoctoral Researcher - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2019]
- UNSW skin cancer researcher Levon Khachigian hit with string of retractions - ABC News [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2019]
- Michal Wszola: We Expect to Transplant the Bioprinted Bionic Pancreas in Three to Five Years - 3DPrint.com [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2019]
- 'The Blob': This mysterious 'smart' slime can solve puzzles and make decisions - CNBC [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2019]
- University of Maryland and DOD collaborate to study Tick-borne Infections using 3-D models of human blood vessels - Outbreak News Today [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2019]
- Submerged Vegetation Mirrors Coast's Health - Coastal Review Online [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2019]
- Another health warning for e-cigarette users that has nothing to do with lung disease - MarketWatch [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2019]
- E-Cigarettes Take a Dangerous Toll on Heart Health - DocWire News [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2019]
- Vascular biology Department of Surgery College of ... [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2019]
- US Nobel laureates tell us what they think about cancer research, moonshots, the dark side, funding, meritocracy, herd mentality, Trump, and joy - The... [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2019]
- Growing Organs in the Lab: One Step Closer to Reality - BioSpace [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2019]
- Inotrem Announces Enrollment of First Patient in its Phase IIb ASTONISH Trial for Nangibotide in the Treatment of Septic Shock - Business Wire [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2019]
- Another Study Suggests E-cigarettes Hurt Heart Health More Than Regular Cigarettes - Science Times [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2019]
- Cleveland Clinic awarded $12 million by NIH to study the link between gut microbes and heart disease - Crain's Cleveland Business [Last Updated On: November 21st, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 21st, 2019]
- JanOne Acquires Worldwide, Exclusive License for Promising Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2019]
- Germ-free lungs of newborn mice are partially protected against hyperoxia - The Mix [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2019]
- Bethesda Health Physician Group Welcomes Fellowship-Trained Endocrine Surgeon Jessica L. Buicko, MD, to Its Team - The Boca Raton Tribune [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2019]
- 9 Harvard researchers named AAAS Fellows Harvard - Harvard Gazette [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2019]
- Top Technical Advances of 2019 - The Scientist [Last Updated On: December 29th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 29th, 2019]
- Growing up Tyrannosaurus rex: Osteohistology refutes the pygmy Nanotyrannus and supports ontogenetic niche partitioning in juvenile Tyrannosaurus -... [Last Updated On: January 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 2nd, 2020]
- UCC currently taking applicants for 21 jobs with some incredible pay - Cork Beo [Last Updated On: January 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 2nd, 2020]
- Vascular Biology | Surgery Research | Michigan Medicine ... [Last Updated On: January 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 2nd, 2020]
- Sandy Bottom wetlands to receive protection for 'national ecological significance' - Citizen Times [Last Updated On: January 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 14th, 2020]
- Why biotech is a boon for patients and investors - Spear's WMS [Last Updated On: January 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 14th, 2020]
- Exonate Announces Collaboration With Janssen to Develop a New Eye Drop for the Treatment of Retinal Vascular Diseases Including Wet Age-related... [Last Updated On: January 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 14th, 2020]
- G-protein Coupled Receptor Market Competitive Research And Precise Outlook 2019 To 2025 Dagoretti News - Dagoretti News [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Scientists revealed the oldest known scorpion on Earth - Tech Explorist [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient - Penn: Office of University Communications [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Genome editing heralds new era of disease research, therapy - The Augusta Chronicle [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Research Fellow in Vascular Stem Cell Biology job with QUEENS UNIVERSITY BELFAST | 195527 - Times Higher Education (THE) [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2020]
- More than skin deep: the latest innovation in 3D printing - Med-Tech Innovation [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2020]
- Examining the link between menopause and heart disease risk - Medical News Bulletin [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2020]
- Women Face an Increased Risk of Heart Disease With AgeRunning Can Help - runnersworld.com [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2020]
- G-protein Coupled Receptor Market Competitive Research And Precise Outlook 2019 To 2025 - Galus Australis [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2020]
- Valentine's Day Matters of the Heart, Biopharma-Style - BioSpace [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2020]
- The Addicted Gardener: Environmental tidbits from around the world - Wicked Local Sharon [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2020]
- UI at 150 & Beyond: 'The Quad was the best no matter what the weather' - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2020]
- The Addicted Gardener: Environmental tidbits from around the world - Wicked Local Dedham [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2020]
- THE ADDICTED GARDENER: Environmental tidbits from around the world - Wicked Local Wareham [Last Updated On: March 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 22nd, 2020]
- 'Little Foot' skull reveals how this more than 3 million year old human ancestor lived - HeritageDaily [Last Updated On: March 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 22nd, 2020]
- It's Not Only About Neurons - The Good Men Project [Last Updated On: March 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 22nd, 2020]
- Who is Sir Patrick Vallance and what is his role in government during coronavirus outbreak? - The Scottish Sun [Last Updated On: March 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 22nd, 2020]
- University of Washington Pathology Professor Dies of COVID-19 - The Scientist [Last Updated On: March 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 22nd, 2020]
- THE ADDICTED GARDENER: Environmental tidbits from around the world - Wicked Local Rochester [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Ancient human ancestor 'Little Foot' probably lived in trees, new research finds - WBAP News/Talk [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Study shows similarity in anti-VEGF injection intervals for wet AMD - Ophthalmology Times [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- aTyr Pharma and its Hong Kong Subsidiary, Pangu BioPharma, Announce Government Grant to Fund Bispecific Antibody Development Platform - BioSpace [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Health researchers find solution to life-threatening side effect - Mirage News [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- European Vascular Biology Organisation | Advancing human ... [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Vascular Biology Program | Boston Children's Hospital [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Vascular Biology Research Program | Johns Hopkins ... [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Anatomy of a heatwave: how Antarctica recorded a 20.75C day last month - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2020]
- Who is Sir Patrick Vallance and is he speaking at todays government coronavirus press briefing? - The Sun [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2020]