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SOCIETY’S 7,000th RESEARCH GRANT
IS AWARDED TO AFRICAN FROG STUDY
WASHINGTON—A scientific study designed to unlock some of the secrets of frog genetics, development and hormones has received the 7,000th grant awarded by the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration.
The recipient is 33-year-old Tyrone B. Hayes, associate professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Hayes will study a genus of frog called Hyperolius, or African reed frog.
Hayes’s grant was one of 33 awards, worth a total of more than a half-million dollars, presented to scientists around the globe for projects in fields ranging from astronomy to zoology at a recent meeting of the CRE in Peru. The committee meets six times a year to consider and vote on some 400 applications annually for support of scientific field research and exploration. Around 280 requests are approved each year.
“At any given moment, hundreds of National Geographic research grantees are at work around the globe, one of whom may be the next Leakey, Fossey or Cousteau,” said Peter Raven, chairman of the CRE. “We are proud to support these promising, often unrecognized, scientific pioneers.”
Hayes will be conducting his African reed frog studies this year in Ethiopia and Uganda. Several members of the Hyperolius genus change color permanently at reproductive maturity, and in some species males are colored differently from females. Both features are rare in frogs, which makes study of this genus so valuable.
In addition to observing, counting and gathering reed frogs in the field, Hayes’ research team will conduct a series of studies to determine if differences in color patterns are genetically controlled and whether hormones can alter color patterns. The team members will study different populations of a single species to explore the influence of genetics and hormones on color pattern variation in males within a species. They will determine if males with different color patterns display different behaviors. The team hopes their findings will allow them to better understand the ecological and evolutionary reasons for the sexual color differences in the species.
“In understanding hormonal mechanisms and potential adaptive advantages within populations, we will gain insight into the mechanisms leading to differences between populations and the differences between species,” says Hayes.
Hayes’ research has implications for conservation and public health. According to an article in the May 2001 National Geographic magazine, the serious decline of the frog population signals something is amiss in the natural world. Many hormones found in frogs are similar, even identical, to human hormones, and chemicals that affect hormonal development in frogs could have implications for human health. The hormones in frogs orchestrate the development from egg to tadpole, and the metamorphosis from tadpole to adult frog. During metamorphosis, frogs are very sensitive to changes in their environment, including chemicals in the water or in their food supply.
Hayes credits his parents for his interest in the natural sciences. When he was a child, his mother gave him his first book on frogs and his father gave him old copies of National Geographic magazine. “Reading National Geographic was part of the reason I became so interested in science and biology,” he said.
In addition to Hayes, other distinguished scientists were awarded research grants at the last CRE meeting. Cuban-born Lourdes Rodriguez Schettino received her first grant from National Geographic for her research on Cuban amphibians and reptiles. Astronomer Jay Pasachoff will study the solar corona from Zambia during the June 2001 solar eclipse.
U.K. native Laurence Packer, based in Canada, will continue his fieldwork in Chile on bee conservation genetics, which could lead to strategies for conservation. Brazilian Anriano Garcia Chiarello will assess the success of translocation experiments with sloths in Brazil. Polish-born Lexzek Karczmarski will conduct behavioral observations of spinner dolphins in the coastal waters of Hawaii. Croatian anthropologist Ivor Karavanic will conduct paleolithic archaeological research in Dalmatia, Croatia.
The Society’s support of groundbreaking scientific research began with the 1890 exploration and mapping of the Mount St. Elias region along the Alaska-Canada border and the discovery of Canada’s highest peak, 19,524-foot Mount Logan.
Today, with stewardship of the Earth one of the Society’s foremost priorities, the CRE’s support is increasingly directed towards cutting-edge research and exploration that illuminates humanity’s place in the world.
Photographs of Dr. Hayes and Hyperolius are available. Contact Shriti Sinha at +1 202 775-6159 or ssinha@ngs.org.
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May 2001
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