# CAREER: Unlocking the small-mammal fossil record to investigate eco-evolutionary responses to landscape and climate dynamics: a multi-proxy and cross-scale approach

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · SUNY at Stony Brook (NY) · $806,265

## Abstract

Understanding plant and animal responses to environmental change across space and time remains a longstanding question in biology, with pressing relevance in today’s rapidly changing world. The fossil record provides key information about the influence of climate and landscape on species ecology and evolutionary history; however, parts of the fossil record remain vastly understudied. Small mammals, such as rodents, are challenging to study in the fossil record, yet as a diverse group of early responders to shifts in environmental conditions hold untapped potential for understanding these relationships today and in the past. This research will generate and assess multiple lines of evidence to illuminate long-term responses to environmental change in small mammals across two systems, the Basin and Range Province of western North America and the East Africa Rift in Kenya, over the last 23 million years. Work in the US and Kenya will additionally foster collaboration between student researchers and promote capacity building for national and international researchers in paleontology. Research and educational aims will be unified through a training program that includes workshops and activities centered on 1) advanced approaches in analytical paleobiology, 2) feasible solutions for data sharing, and 3) scientific communication. In collaboration with the Turkana Basin Institute, educational objectives also include a redesigned field course with embedded research in Vertebrate Paleon

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2440645
- **Awardee organization:** SUNY at Stony Brook (NY)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** M746VC6XMNH9
- **PI:** Tara M Smiley
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, SEDIMENTARY GEO & PALEOBIOLOGY
- **Estimated total:** $806,265
- **Funds obligated:** $806,265
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 09/01/2025 → 08/31/2030

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2440645

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2440645, CAREER: Unlocking the small-mammal fossil record to investigate eco-evolutionary responses to landscape and climate dynamics: a multi-proxy and cross-scale approach. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-07 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2440645. Licensed CC0.

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