Headlines
LAWRENCE — How did the first humans migrate to populate North America? It’s one of the great scientific puzzles of our day, especially because forbidding glaciers covered most of Canada, Alaska and Pacific Northwest during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These glaciers limited human movements between northern ice-free areas, like the Beringia Land Bridge, and southern ice-free areas, like the continental United States. Now, research from the University of Kansas into the whole genomes of the American pine marten and Pacific pine marten — weasel-like mammals that range today from Alaska to the American Southwest — could shed light on how the first humans populated the Americas.
KU School of Music presents two contemporary operas in free virtual event
LAWRENCE — A double-bill performance featuring students from the University of Kansas School of Music voice and orchestra programs will explore themes of identity, trauma and resilience through two contemporary operas. The virtual event is free to livestream from the Lied Center’s website at 7:30 p.m. April 27.
Four KU students nominated for Udall Scholarships
LAWRENCE — Four students at the University of Kansas, including one student from Wichita, are nominees for Udall Undergraduate Scholarships, which recognize students who demonstrate leadership, public service and commitment in the fields of tribal public policy, native health care or the environment.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch
Study of marten genomes suggest forested safe havens along the coast aided peopling of Americas
LAWRENCE — How did the first humans migrate to populate North America? It’s one of the great scientific puzzles of our day, especially because forbidding glaciers covered most of Canada, Alaska and Pacific Northwest during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These glaciers limited human movements between northern ice-free areas, like the Beringia Land Bridge, and southern ice-free areas, like the continental United States.
Now, research from the University of Kansas into the whole genomes of the American pine marten and Pacific pine marten — weasel-like mammals that range today from Alaska to the American Southwest — could shed light on how the first humans populated the Americas.
The study used genomic sequence data to determine biogeographic, colonization and demographic histories of martens in North America, and it found that a coastal population of Pacific martens may have inhabited forested refuges along the ice-bound coastline of Alaska and Canada during the LGM. According to the research, published in the Journal of Biogeography, these same forested sanctuaries could have provided food, shelter and other resources to bands of human migrants who populated North America.
“The ‘Coastal Refugium Hypothesis’ is the idea that there were pockets of ice-free land along the coast of northwestern North America, and also communities of organisms that lived in these areas,” said lead author Jocelyn Colella, assistant professor of ecology & evolutionary biology at KU and assistant curator of mammals with the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum. “Carnivores, like martens, take a lot of resources to sustain. They need something to eat — and martens in particular are considered ‘forest-associated,’ meaning they also need complex forests in order to complete their life cycles. Evidence of martens in this area suggests there may have also been forests, not just tundra and ice, which is different than what we previously thought.”
These forested pockets along the coastline where the coastal Pacific marten dwelled also could have served as sanctuaries for humans where they may have hunted, foraged and found access to shelter and supplies along their icy journey.
“Presumably, migrating humans along the coast would have been seafaring — probably using some type of boat,” Colella said. “But humans have to eat, too, and so the next question is, were we good enough fishermen to live solely off of the sea, or were there other resources? It looks like there may have been substantially more resources in these areas: plants, small mammals, maybe we even ate martens. Who knows?”
Colella and her colleagues first sequenced the marten’s whole genome and then performed analyses with powerful computers to determine when the different species diverged (or split off from a common ancestor and became distinct species) and infer the historical distributions of martens along the complex Northwestern Coast.
“You can compare genomes from different species to see how their evolutionary histories differ, and we do this a lot with phylogenies — a phylogeny is kind of like a family tree, it shows the evolutionary relationships between different organisms,” Colella said. “There appear to be two different lineages of Pacific marten — one coastal lineage found on three islands along the North Pacific coast and then another continental lineage located in areas of the American Southwest, but also in the Pacific Northwest and California mountain ranges. We found a deep history for coastal Pacific martens along the North Pacific Coast — our dates show about 100,000 years, which means they’ve been there since the Last Glacial Maximum when ice covered most of North America. At that time, these martens may have been isolated off the coast in ice-free areas — or ‘glacial refugia’ — available to terrestrial animals, meaning there was also terrestrial area available for humans migrating along the coast.”
While marten genomes show them inhabiting these coastal refuges during the LGM, so far the fossil record hasn’t confirm this idea, according to Colella. However, the KU researcher believes some fossils may need to be reexamined.
“Scientists haven’t found a lot of marten fossils from this time period along the coast,” she said. “But, a lot of the fossils they have found are incomplete, sometimes just teeth, and it’s hard to identify species by just their teeth. Interestingly, coastal Pacific martens are found only on islands where their semi-aquatic relative, mink, are not found — it’s possible that coastal Pacific martens have filled that niche instead. In fact, my previous work on marten morphology found that coastal martens are larger than martens on the mainland, so it’s possible that some fossils may have been identified as mink but are actually be martens.”
Although the coastal Pacific marten isn’t today classified as a distinct species, Colella believes the research indicates it should be.
“This is the first time we’ve detected the coastal Pacific marten, and it’s really different from mainland Pacific marten,” she said. “The problem is we don’t yet have enough samples to say it’s a distinct species. The next step is to compare the morphology of the two groups and increase our genetic sample sizes, so we can test the species status of the insular Pacific marten. Pacific martens have this really weird geographic range — with the coastal group found on just a couple islands off the coast of Southeast Alaska and the mainland group found in Pacific Northwest and California forests, but also on mountaintops in New Mexico and Utah. Alaskan islands are very different from the Pacific Northwest, which is very different from the Southwest. Based on their distribution today, it seems that the Pacific martens were historically more widespread. It’s kind of amazing, as we start to look at the genetics of some of these animals, just how little we know.”
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Contact: Neal Long, School of Music, [email protected]
KU School of Music presents two contemporary operas in free virtual event
LAWRENCE — A double-bill performance featuring students from the University of Kansas School of Music voice and orchestra programs will explore themes of identity, trauma and resilience through two contemporary operas. The virtual event is free to livestream from the Lied Center’s website at 7:30 p.m. April 27.
“Snow Angel,” composed by KU graduate Bonnie McLarty with words by Wyatt Townley, explores the reclamation of personal identity and agency following a sexual assault of the female protagonist. The opera was written as McLarty’s dissertation project, and this performance marks its premiere with a chamber ensemble. “As One,” composed by Laura Kaminsky with words by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed and film also by Reed, traces the life experiences of a transgender protagonist named Hannah.
This double-bill performance was conceived by Carolyn Watson, director of orchestral activities, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project provided KU students with both an opportunity to perform safely as well as a chance to learn about and address relevant social issues on college campuses.
“In addition to a long-overdue reckoning with structures of systemic racism, colleges throughout the nation are also grappling with an epidemic of sexual assault, harassment and violence against women,” Watson said. “The two works selected explore this issue along with the discrimination and misogyny so often suffered by women and the LGBTQIA community more generally.”
Neal Long, a KU doctoral student in voice and co-director of the productions, said the project has provided invaluable experience for students, both in terms of challenging contemporary repertoire and social justice.
“The relationships we’ve fostered with the communities represented in the operas have been critical not only to the success of the project but also our own personal growth,” Long said.
One of those relationships is with co-director Lily DeSett, who assisted with the production of “As One.”
“Working on ‘As One’ has been the honor of a lifetime,” DeSett said. “I remember hearing about this opera back in a time when I was too scared to live my life authentically, as I am now, and it gave me hope. I’m so glad that I was able to be a part of the telling of this story, a story that needs to be heard.”
Both operas contain mature content, and viewer discretion is advised. A representative from KU Counseling and Psychological Services will be available virtually during the performance to support currently enrolled KU students who may find themselves emotionally affected. Community members requiring support may reach out to Headquarters Counseling Center, which provides 24/7 services free of charge.
A virtual community conversation hosted by the Spencer Museum of Art at 6 p.m. April 29 will provide a chance to further discuss themes from both operas in conversation with ideas in the museum’s exhibition “Healing, Knowing, and Seeing the Body.”
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Contact: Andy Hyland, Office of Public Affairs, 785-864-7100, [email protected], @UnivOfKansas
Four KU students nominated for Udall Scholarships
LAWRENCE — Four students at the University of Kansas are nominees for Udall Undergraduate Scholarships, which recognize students who demonstrate leadership, public service and commitment in the fields of tribal public policy, native health care or the environment.
KU’s nominees:
1. Melek Ben-Ayed, a junior in mechanical engineering
2. Anna Krause, a junior in ecology, evolution & organismal biology and English
3. Lydia Yuengling, a junior majoring in architecture
4. Kaci Zarek, a junior majoring in ecology & evolutionary biology
The Udall Undergraduate Scholarship is a federal scholarship that honors the legacies of Morris Udall and Stewart Udall, two former Arizona lawmakers whose careers had an effect on American Indian self-governance, health care and the stewardship of public lands and natural resources.
The Udall Foundation administers the program. This year, the foundation will award 60 students with scholarships of up to $7,000 each, access to the Udall Alumni Network and a four-day scholar orientation in Tucson, Arizona. Students must be nominated by their university to apply, and universities are limited in the total number of nominations they can make.
At KU, the nomination process is coordinated by the Office of Fellowships in Undergraduate Studies. Students interested in applying next year should contact Anne Wallen, program director of the Office of Fellowships and campus representative for the Udall Scholarship.
Biographical details of the candidates follow.
Melek Ben-Ayed, from Wichita and from Sfax, Tunisia, is a graduate of the American School of Doha and the son of Omar Ben-Ayed and Sondes Dhouib Ben-Ayed. A mechanical engineering major, Ben-Ayed serves as the chair of the Student Environmental Advisory Board, president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at KU and as an engineering senator and member of the KU Student Senate Executive Committee. For the past two years, he has worked as a resident assistant and desk assistant for KU Student Housing. Since 2019, Ben-Ayed has been involved with the Lawrence Sunrise Movement hub. He currently serves as vice president of the KU Sunrise Movement student organization and as a trainer for the national organization. Ben-Ayed has been involved in undergraduate research with Candan Tamerler, Wesley G. Cramer Professor of Engineering, and Christopher Depcik, professor of engineering. He is a member of Zeta Chapter of Theta Tau engineering fraternity and the Muslim Student Association.
Anna Krause, from San Jose, California, is a graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School and the daughter of Barbara and Roland Krause. A double major in ecology, evolution & organismal biology, Krause is a member of the University Honors Program, where she also served as a communications intern. Krause was selected as a sophomore for the University Scholars Program and has received an Undergraduate Research Award and awards for study abroad and from the Department of French, Francophone & Italian Studies. She is the current president of KU Environs, the research officer for KU SEEDS and a member of the KU Writing Club. She has worked as a paleobotany research assistant for Richard Glor, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, as an entomology student assistant for the KU Biodiversity Institute and as a teaching assistant for undergraduate biology.
Lydia Juengling, from Washington, Missouri, is a graduate of Washington High School and the daughter of Stephanie Juengling and Michael and Dixie Juengling. An architecture major, Juengling is a member of the University Honors Program pursuing certificates in sustainability, global awareness and service learning. She is a member of TRIO SES & STEM and a Gilman Scholar. She is class representative to the American Institute of Architecture Students and chapter vice president, a member of the United States Green Building Council and serves as a student representative to the architecture department. She has volunteered with Freedom by Design, worked as a tutor for Kansas Athletics and is involved in KU Christian Challenge and Rock Hill Church’s children’s ministry.
Kaci Zarek, from Norfolk, Nebraska, is a graduate of Norfolk High School and the daughter of Sarah Zarek. An environmental studies major and Spanish minor, Zarek is a member of the University Honors Program, where she has served as an honors seminar assistant. Zarek was selected by the Center for Undergraduate Research for the Emerging Scholars Program as a freshman, which got her started in research with environmental studies and ecology & evolutionary biology associate professor Amy Burgin’s lab at the Kansas Biological Survey, researching how land use changes affect dissolved organic matter in eastern Kansas streams. Zarek has continued her research with Burgin and has received the KU Field Station Award for her research and the Ruben Zadigan Undergraduate Scholarship from the Environmental Studies Program. Zarek is the public relations coordinator for the Environmental Studies Student Ambassadors and has engaged in service programs through that program. She also works as a resident assistant for KU Student Housing.
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