Name: Matthew Carling, Evolutionary Processes Program Officer

Education: B.S. University of Michigan, Ph.D. Louisiana State University

Home Institution: University of Wyoming

Tell us about your research,

I am serving as a rotating Program Officer which means I do all the same tasks as permanent Program Officers (facilitate panels, make funding recommendations, day-to-day grant administration, etc.) but I’m also representing my community of investigators here at NSF for a few years before I return to my home institution in Wyoming. As an investigator, I am a museum-trained ornithologist and most of the work in my lab involves trying to understand the mechanisms and processes underlying speciation and adaptation. For example, we have a number of projects focused on using naturally occurring hybrid zones between closely-related bird species to understand both the generation and maintenance of reproductive isolation. As the curator of the University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates, I am also actively engaged in building and using museum collections not just for research, but also to engage the public in myriad ways.

What made you want to serve NSF?

The prospect of joining a dynamic and dedicated group of fellow program officers and staff working as a team to help push science forward. Plus, I’m not going to lie, there are better restaurants here than in Wyoming.

What are you most looking forward to during your tenure at NSF?

Community service. A core part of the mission of NSF is “to promote the progress of science,” and, to me, that involves working closely with the scientific community to identify the best ways to do exactly that – promote scientific progress. I am also looking forward to trying to help PIs, particularly early-career PIs, in any way I am able so they can better understand what makes a successful proposal.

 

Name: Christopher Schneider, Systematics and Biodiversity Science Program Officer

Education: B.S. Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR, M.A. University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. University of California at Berkley

Home Institution: Boston University

Tell us about your research,

I am serving as a rotating Program Officer. I am a broadly trained vertebrate zoologist, systematist, and evolutionary biologist specializing in the study of frogs and lizards. Much of my career has been spent studying the mechanisms that generate the remarkably high biodiversity of mountainous regions in the tropics, which comprise only about 5% of the world’s landmass, but may contain two-thirds of the world’s vertebrate animal species. I use a combination of expeditionary field work and molecular genetic analyses to test hypotheses about the origin of species, their history and biogeography. I have worked in Australia, Brazil, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Ecuador and the Caribbean and I continue to marvel at the stunning diversity and variety of species, many new to science, that we study.

What made you want to serve NSF?

NSF is the hub of some of the most exciting science on the planet and I’d imagined that working there as part of a purpose-driven team to support science would be deeply rewarding. Yet, somehow, the time was never right. My responsibilities to graduate students and my home institution (Boston University), a child in school, and a spouse’s career all conspired to make a move to NSF seem implausible. In addition, I love the academic life of scholarship, teaching, research, and student mentorship, so was not in a hurry to set that aside. But late last year the stars aligned. My lab became smaller and more manageable, the Systematics and Biodiversity Sciences Cluster in the Division of Environmental Biology had an opening, my wife accepted a great job offer in the area, and my child went off to college. Needless to say, I am thrilled to finally be working with the outstanding scientists and staff at NSF.

What are you most looking forward to during your tenure at NSF?

A key part of NSF’s mission is to support the basic sciences that drive innovation and understanding. It is exciting to be part of that mission and I look forward to working with my colleagues and staff to support the best science, develop new research funding opportunities, and maintain the vibrant atmosphere of exploration and discovery that advances science and education and inspires the public.