Postdoctoral Fellowship: SPRF: Reconstructing Precontact Caribbean Settlement using Ancient DNA

This award was provided as part of the NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) and Linguistics programs. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Maria Nieves-Colón at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist analyzing the genetic diversity of early populations. By providing the first ancient DNA data from the earliest known ancestral remains from Puerto Rico and other ancient communities, questions related to the process of population origins, island settlement, and regional interaction will be addressed. An improved characterization of broader human population history in the region is crucial in understanding the biocultural connections between these ancient communities and present-day islanders and diaspora. This project also prioritizes community consultation as a part of the research process and supports education for a diverse group of students by providing training opportunities. The process of initial human arrival represents one of the most significant but least understood population movements in the ancient history of the Americas. While archaeological, linguistic, and more recently, genetic research has contributed a wealth of knowledge to our understanding of human settlement and interaction, questions regarding the population origins, dispersal trajectories, and the extent of interaction between communities are still debated. This NSF postdoctoral fellowship applies techniques in ancient DNA to characterize the genetic diversity of precontact communities and time periods that have not yet been studied using this method. These results will be integrated with existing archaeological knowledge to address these lingering questions. Additionally, a primary objective of this work is to prioritize community involvement and build groundwork for ethical paleogenomics research. Through partnerships with local universities, museums, and non-governmental organizations, this project will include consultations to facilitate community input into the research process, share results, and create local student education and training opportunities in biological anthropology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.