Project Grant 2224892

This $192,702 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), will fund research at the University of Wyoming to study the impact of climate change on functional biodiversity in Lake Tanganyika, Africa. The research aims to track functional biodiversity lake-wide using Lake Tanganyika's high-resolution sedimentary record to establish a series of historical experiments. Researchers will integrate geochemical, fossil, and genomic tools to assess open water and bottom-dwelling community structures and functions under different climate change scenarios, as well as key organisms' physical and physiological responses. The results have potential to predict biodiversity changes in large tropical lakes amid climate uncertainty. The funding will also support international partnerships, student training, and public outreach workshops developing educational materials.