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18-455: NESCent offers a range of fellowships for visiting scientists and educators and sponsors numerous scientific meetings each year. In its first 7 years, NESCent hosted nearly 4,200 visitors from more than 50 countries. Sponsored projects span the fields of systematics , paleontology , molecular evolution , phylogeography , comparative biology , evolutionary genetics , population biology and functional morphology, among others. NESCent promotes

36-492: A focus on open source software, database development, IT support, and analytical tools in evolutionary biology. Major initiatives include the Generic Model Organism Database project, Dryad , and Phenoscape project. NESCent’s science education and outreach group works to improve evolution education, expand opportunities for underrepresented groups, and communicate current and emerging research to

54-480: A notable renaissance, principally with respect to theoretical content. Part of the theoretical material has to do with evolutionary areas (topics e and f above), the rest relates especially to the problem of classification. Taxonomy is that part of Systematics concerned with topics (a) to (d) above. The term "taxonomy" was coined by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle while the term "systematic" was coined by Carl Linnaeus

72-559: A primary tool in understanding, as nothing about an organism's relationships with other living things can be understood without it first being properly studied and described in sufficient detail to identify and classify it correctly. Scientific classifications are aids in recording and reporting information to other scientists and to laymen. The systematist , a scientist who specializes in systematics, must, therefore, be able to use existing classification systems, or at least know them well enough to skilfully justify not using them. Phenetics

90-479: A regular basis to advise the Directors and oversee the center. NESCent has 15-20 full-time employees and several employees on a part-time or contractual basis. In addition, approximately 10 postdoctoral fellows and 2-3 sabbatical scholars typically work on-site at the center at any given time. NESCent’s informatics team plays an active role in developing cyberinfrastructure for the scientific community, with

108-800: A variety of offices for scientists and staff. The center is located at 2024 W. Main Street, Suite A200 Durham, NC 27705. 36°00′26″N 78°55′24″W  /  36.007121°N 78.923442°W  / 36.007121; -78.923442 Systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees , phylogenies). Phylogenies have two components: branching order (showing group relationships, graphically represented in cladograms ) and branch length (showing amount of evolution). Phylogenetic trees of species and higher taxa are used to study

126-400: Is the field that (a) provides scientific names for organisms, (b) describes them, (c) preserves collections of them, (d) provides classifications for the organisms, keys for their identification, and data on their distributions, (e) investigates their evolutionary histories, and (f) considers their environmental adaptations. This is a field with a long history that in recent years has experienced

144-621: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . In the fall of 2009, NESCent was awarded a second 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation, which will provide funding for the center through 2014. NESCent sponsors a number of research and training programs for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and groups. Examples include: NESCent’s Directorate consists of: In addition, NESCent has an external Advisory Board and Operations Committee that meet on

162-401: The analysis of the material that makes up the living part of a cell—such as the nucleus , organelles , and cytoplasm . Experimental systematics identifies and classifies animals based on the evolutionary units that comprise a species, as well as their importance in evolution itself. Factors such as mutations, genetic divergence, and hybridization all are considered evolutionary units. With

180-453: The evolution of traits (e.g., anatomical or molecular characteristics) and the distribution of organisms ( biogeography ). Systematics, in other words, is used to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth. The word systematics is derived from the Latin word of Ancient Greek origin systema , which means systematic arrangement of organisms. Carl Linnaeus used ' Systema Naturae ' as

198-472: The father of taxonomy. Taxonomy, systematic biology, systematics, biosystematics, scientific classification, biological classification, phylogenetics: At various times in history, all these words have had overlapping, related meanings. However, in modern usage, they can all be considered synonyms of each other. For example, Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary of 1987 treats "classification", "taxonomy", and "systematics" as synonyms. According to this work,

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216-688: The general public. Programs include professional development workshops for instructors at science and education conferences, annual Darwin Day festivities, working groups on evolution education, and monthly audio/video podcasts for the Evolution in the News program. NESCent is located in the Erwin Mill Building, a former textile mill near Duke University’s main campus. NESCent’s facilities include four meeting rooms with space for up to 45 people, and

234-529: The specific branches, researchers are able to determine the applications and uses for modern-day systematics. These applications include: John Lindley provided an early definition of systematics in 1830, although he wrote of "systematic botany" rather than using the term "systematics". In 1970 Michener et al. defined "systematic biology" and " taxonomy " (terms that are often confused and used interchangeably) in relationship to one another as follows: Systematic biology (hereafter called simply systematics)

252-507: The study of biodiversity as a whole, whereas North Americans tend to use "taxonomy" more frequently. However, taxonomy, and in particular alpha taxonomy , is more specifically the identification, description, and naming (i.e. nomenclature) of organisms, while "classification" focuses on placing organisms within hierarchical groups that show their relationships to other organisms. All of these biological disciplines can deal with both extinct and extant organisms. Systematics uses taxonomy as

270-607: The synthesis of information, concepts and knowledge to address significant, emerging, or novel questions in evolutionary science and its applications. NESCent achieves this by supporting research and education across disciplinary, institutional, geographic, and demographic boundaries. NESCent was founded in December 2004 with a grant from the US National Science Foundation , and is jointly operated by Duke University , North Carolina State University , and

288-443: The terms originated in 1790, c. 1828, and in 1888 respectively. Some claim systematics alone deals specifically with relationships through time, and that it can be synonymous with phylogenetics , broadly dealing with the inferred hierarchy of organisms. This means it would be a subset of taxonomy as it is sometimes regarded, but the inverse is claimed by others. Europeans tend to use the terms "systematics" and "biosystematics" for

306-512: The title of his book. In the study of biological systematics, researchers use the different branches to further understand the relationships between differing organisms. These branches are used to determine the applications and uses for modern day systematics. Biological systematics classifies species by using three specific branches. Numerical systematics , or biometry , uses biological statistics to identify and classify animals. Biochemical systematics classifies and identifies animals based on

324-542: Was an attempt to determine the relationships of organisms through a measure of overall similarity, making no distinction between plesiomorphies (shared ancestral traits) and apomorphies (derived traits). From the late-20th century onwards, it was superseded by cladistics , which rejects plesiomorphies in attempting to resolve the phylogeny of Earth's various organisms through time. Today's systematists generally make extensive use of molecular biology and of computer programs to study organisms. Taxonomic characters are

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