1 August, 2001
Yolanda Chacon
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Dear National Science Foundation,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the NSF for funding my participation
within the 2001 Research Training Program at the National Museum of Natural
History. In my ten-week stay, I have seen and been a part of the outstanding
research that occurs at the Museum of Natural History.
My research entails the microscopic feather character analysis of cranes,
rails, and allies from the order Gruiformes. Microscopic feather character
analysis is a new tool that ornithologists have used to show that certain
feather characters (i.e. node shape, barbule length, node width and pigment)
can be traced back to particular groups of birds, especially in identifying
groups involved in bird aircraft collisions ("bird strikes"). The
concepts and techniques of this new tool are based upon the work of Roxie
Laybourne and Dr. Carla Dove at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum
of Natural History. In this study feather characters were coupled with and
compared to DNA to determine whether feather characters that are used in feather
identification can be applied to phylogeny and evolution of birds. Our results
suggest that feather characters can be used to determine phylogeny and should
be combined with other characters. I am very pleased to inform you that my
participation in this program has enthused me to continue my research at New
Mexico State University, under the direction of Dr. Peter Houde.
I am very grateful to the foundation, for your generosity, and for a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with the nation's top scientists. I have learned so much during these past 10 weeks, I am very thankful that NSF believed in me to fund my participation in this program. Once again thank you very much for your generosity.
With Regards,
Yolanda J. Chacon
Research Training Program, 2001