This $285,175 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Activities (IA) program will provide a research fellowship to an associate professor and training for a postdoctoral researcher at Auburn University. The project aims to better understand how the nanostructures on butterfly wings impact their iridescent coloration. The research will leverage the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's butterfly collection to analyze scale structures and reflectance spectra across a phylogenetic span of butterfly species. Key goals include identifying scale structural variations associated with ultraviolet and iridescent color variation, producing a digital database of butterfly structural coloration data, and training researchers on experimental approaches to study structural coloration in nature. This project will foster a new collaboration between Auburn University and the Smithsonian Institution, and develop educational modules to engage middle-school students. The award period is from December 15, 2024 to November 30, 2026.
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