Candida albicans is the most common fungus that is associated with life-threatening infection. It is one of many fungi that can grow either as an ovoid yeast that grows by forming expanding buds or as a mould that elaborates branching tubular cells to form a mycelium. Because infections are associated with transitions between these two forms the process of yeast-to-hypha transition has been heavily studied in recent years. However, most of these investigations have focussed on the signals that stimulate the transitions rather than the growth of the primary germ tube and its associated branches. This is important because mycelial growth may be vital for tissue invasion, and because it has become clear that the process of hyphal C. albicans is unusual and enables novel hypotheses to be tested about the physiological requirements for cell division of eukaryotic cells in general. Consequently we will investigate how mycelial cells grow and divide both from the point of view of its role in fungal disease and the insights it can provide into the cell biology of the cell cycle. We have observed that during the growth of germ tubes, a large vacuole forms behind the growing tip that fills up most of the cell. Although the overall dimensions of this cell are similar to other cells, it has less cytoplasm. We propose that it does not have sufficient cytoplasm to progress through the cell division cycle. At a specific point in the cell cycle called START, cells must achieve a certain minimal cell size. We therefore hypothesise that the large vacuole left behind after cell division prevents these cells from passing through START in the division cycle. We have also shown that the vacuole is not equally divided between the two daughter cells formed after cell division, and that the younger daughter cell acquires most of the cytoplasm and the mother cell retains most of the vacuole. Vacuole division and inheritance is a carefully regulated process about which we have learned much from the related yeast-like fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To test out hypothesis that vacuole inheritance and distribution determines whether growth or growth arrest of cells occurs within the mycelium, we will make defined mutations in genes that regulate vacuole partitioning at cell division. We can predict from studies in S. cerevisiae exactly what mutations we will need to make to be able to alter the normal vacuole pattern in cells. These mutants will enable us not only to find out how vacuoles control cell division, but also to address questions about how the cell cycle in regulated in higher eukaryotic cells. With a range of mutants we will be able to dissect the regulatory pathways through which hyphae and branches of mycelia grow. We will also be able to assess whether normal branching is important for the ability of this fungus to establish diseased lesions in animal tissues. Importantly, many other important fungi, including many plant pathogens, control the type of growth they undergo by forming a greater or lesser amount of vacuole. We will therefore be able to advance the field of fungal physiology, by undertaking the first in- depth study of the genetic links between vacuolation and fungal growth.

Divine lordships characterised much of western South America when the Europeans arrived in the 16th century. These native polities featured social ranking and kin-based lineages centred on special leaders who held power as god-like, ancestral beings. Despite the prevalence of divine lordships across the world, very little is known about their emergence. Our project investigates the early record of divine lordship in ancient Peru. It grows out of our previous work which independently observed evidence of political centralisation in two adjacent areas of northern Ancash: districts of Moro (Nepeña coastal midvalley) & Cabana (highland Pallasca). This project aims to more fully document the process of centralisation (AD 1-200), and postulates that four main factors were crucial: intensified resource control; warrior leadership; rival factions; ancestralisation of leaders. Data to test these factors will be acquired through a 4-year plan of fieldwork and analysis, including: A) Regional Settlement Survey. Social complexity models have tended to focus on single valleys. We examine adjacent valleys to widen the frame of analysis to observe larger scale systemic change. Each basin is dominated by an impressive hilltop centre, Cerro San Isidro (Moro) & Pashash (Cabana), which overlooks valuable lands and features commoner and elite dwellings, fortifications and mausolea. Surrounding them are many other settlements and features (hamlets, fields, roads, canals). Detailed survey will help determine their dating, activities and functional relationships to the centres. B) Excavations at Cerro San Isidro & Pashash. Both sites show excellent archaeological preservation; because new residential and mortuary buildings appear in both areas almost simultaneously, our project can clarify their co-development. Lordships should show evidence of segmentary organisation, ancestor veneration and wealth differences. We aim to study these patterns in large compounds, as palatial spaces of kin groups at the seats of power. Burials and mausolea inside them may indicate 'living with the dead,' ritual practices that helped legitimise increasingly powerful noble groups. Post-excavation analyses (organic & non-organic remains) should show variability in diet, wealth accumulation and trade items. The project is led by two mid-career archaeologists, who combine four decades of work in Peru and accomplished records of major field projects and outputs in the study areas. A postdoctoral researcher will complement the team to bridge the case studies during fieldwork, heading activities in impact/dissemination, and developing personal research topics on social complexity and material culture. The project will have two Peruvian co-directors, local research technicians and international student participation, while working with local authorities, towns and museums. Overall, our project researches the rise of Andean polities as part of large-scale, regional systemic change in northern Peru. It develops the material record for early divine lordships and contributes directly to general theory about the emergence of social complexity in the Americas and beyond. It examines topical themes in the sciences and humanities, and resonates with current events - charismatic leadership; wealth inequality; conflict; political ideology. Key scholarly outputs include new case studies and technical data for two understudied regions, as well as joint publications (books/articles), presentations, meetings and outreach. Wider impact includes capacity-building in Peru: adding collections and sharing data with three regional museums; transferring knowledge for site protection, heritage management & public exhibitions; enabling local museums and stakeholders to know and present their past effectively. It also offers numerous student & researcher opportunities to help develop a new generation of scholars and grow academic and public links between UK, North America and Peru.

As awareness of the meteotsunami (MT) (tsunami-like wave of meteorological origin) threat to human life and coastal infrastructure is growing (e.g., >100/year MT events just on the Great Lakes), so is the need for understanding and forecasting it. However, knowledge acquired in the study of seismic tsunami is not readily transferable to MT research, because MT evolution is in important aspects qualitatively different: it is much more nonlinear and more strongly affected by bottom friction. Moreover, a realistic reconstruction of MT evolution is almost impossible because of the current poor spatial and temporal resolution MT observations, overwhelmingly confined to the shoreline. Therefore, the picture of the nonlinear transformation of a MT from generation to its shoreline manifestation is substantially incomplete. Since the MTs tend to disintegrate into very short (down to ~10s) pulses, even modern tidal gauges (1 min resolution) fail to capture essential features of its evolution. This fundamental knowledge gap is evident in our recently-published high-resolution MT observations off the Louisiana coast, which show a highly-complex, multi-scale non-linear disintegration of the MT wave. Together with other gaps identified in the literature, the observations strongly suggest revising of the current MT paradigm. Field experiment: A 3-year field experiment will be conducted to collect unprecedented high-resolution (up to 4 Hz) MT observations off the Louisiana coast, to capture fully the details of MT evolution. The site is a unique "natural laboratory": (i) it experiences 20-30 frontal passages per cold season (high MT probability); (ii) allows for the study of bottom-induced dissipation over a range of sedimentary types (coarse sands to mud); (iii) crucially, it is already monitored by WAVCIS (http://www.wavcis.lsu.edu/, Coastal Studies Institute, LSU), an ocean-observing system network sponsored by NOAA and BOEM. WAVCIS will be enhanced with high-resolution capabilities and five new stations located both on the coast and offshore. The observations will be organized into a public database. Modelling: The proposed work is based on the hypothesis that in a generic Proudman-resonated MT event trapped waves are also excited. Although usually less dangerous, they might represent an important part of the process, and behave as precursors to the main wave. The work focuses on the propagation stage of MT: a theoretical description of the nonlinear evolution of both free and trapped components of MT will be developed, including solitary waves, and will be validated for the real topography, and accounting for realistic bottom friction. MT warning: Data analysis and model development will be integrated into an evaluate-learn-correct cycle that will improve our representation of the process and our ability to anticipate MT events. Effective numerical models and early-warning strategies will be developed and tested. Presently, MT early-warning systems mostly rely on interpreting atmospheric data. The new high-resolution observations will be used to incorporate in this cycle elements of real-time ocean response.

Overview Understanding how ecosystems will adapt due to climate change involves modelling future scenarios and making inferences from long-term datasets. Paleoclimate research, specifically from the Cenozoic provides an invaluable source of long-term data that can be used to understand future climate change. A knowledge gap exists in that no long-term and large-scale information on how fungi have responded to past climate change prevents understanding how fungal ecosystems in different regions will change in the future. The MMCO was the warmest interval of the Neogene and is potentially an analogue for future warming. A base-line knowledge of global vegetation exists for this interval, but the lack of fossil fungal data inhibits a full understanding of biodiversity and terrestrial carbon cycle dynamics during this potential analogue. Modern ecological data suggests fungal diversity should decrease with increasing temperatures, but fungal biodiversity is highest in warm biomes. This conflicting information could be due to unforeseen long-term changes that are impossible to investigate on human timescales. The presence of fossil fungi in sedimentary sequences provides a reliable proxy for investigating how fungi respond to warmer global temperatures. No existing works examine fungal ecosystem services or biodiversity in the Neogene. Without an in-depth understanding of past fungal community structure, function, and interactions in warmer-thanpresent conditions, it is impossible to predict future changes. To fill the knowledge gap, we propose providing the first global view of fungal biodiversity and ecosystem services during an interval of geologic time that is in line with future warming scenarios. Specifically, we will generate and analyze a global-scale data set of fungal biodiversity from MMCO sediments using fungal palynology. Existing palynological slides and residues will be re-examined for fungal content (East Asia [China], Southeast Asia [Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand], South Asia [Indus Fan], Europe, SE North America). Field work will involve detailed sampling of exceptionally preserved leaf-, wood- or coal-bearing terrestrial sites in Australia (year 1), South America (year 1), Africa (year 2), and North America (year 2). Intellectual Merit We will generate six gold open access presentation detailing 1) fungal occurrences and ecological tolerances for each of the four study sites; 2) biogeography of fungal ecology during the MMCO; and 3) new climate reconstructions for the MMCO taking fungi into account. We will also generate a large database, entitled FUNgal Cenozoic Köppen Information (FUNCKI), that will permit others to use fungal ecological tolerances in relation to Köppen bioclimate zones to reconstruct past ecosystems using fungal palynomorphs. Additionally, we anticipate presentations at multiple conferences a year over the three-year project. Broader Impacts We will strive to increase equable access to science through gold open access publication. We will utilize gender neutral recruitment strategies and strive to recruit minorities for Postdoctoral, doctoral, and undergraduate positions on the project where possible. We will build a ludic pedagogical outreach and elementary-level STEM engagement package that will be disseminated to teachers and primary students in the US, UK, South Africa, Argentina, and Peru. We will host a special session on fungal palynology at the 2022 European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. We will provide a fungal palynology workshop with free-toparticipants materials at the 2023 annual meeting of AASP-The Palynological Society in Lexington, KY.

The evolution of the South Asian Monsoon represents the multi-sphere interactions that involve lithosphere (the uplift of Tibetan Plateau), atmosphere (monsoonal circulations), hydrosphere (hydrological cycle), and biosphere (e.g., terrestrial ecology evolution - C4-grassland expansion and ocean productivity). Therefore, the South Asian Monsoon research is directly related to the compelling, high-priority science questions, as identified in [A Vision for NSF Earth Sciences 2020-2030: Earth in Time (2020)], including Question 6 (What are the causes and consequences of topographic change?) Question 8 (What does Earth's past reveal about the dynamics of the climate system?) Question 9 (How is Earth's water cycle changing?) and Question 10 (How do biogeochemical cycles evolve?) (National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, 2020). Hence the study of the South Asian monsoon is exemplary in Earth System Science research. Because of the nature of multi-sphere interactions, the South Asian Monsoon is manifest with multiple facets. It is characterized by the marked seasonal precipitation, high relevance to chemical weathering of silicate rocks and the efficiency of carbon burial, interannual reversal wind fields, ocean cooling, biogenic bloom, and expansion of oxygen minimum zone (e.g., Betzler et al., 2017; France-Lanord et al., 2016; Pandey et al., 2016). Decades of efforts have focused on characterizing those features of South Asian Monsoon; the accumulation of results has revolutionized our knowledge of South Asian Monsoon by offering long-term time series of evolutionary history from different perspectives to link the above phenomenon. However, due to the nature of multiple facets of the South Asian Monsoon, a vital issue arose, which reflects on the divergent observations and contradictory interpretations of the monsoon strength. Proxy studies from the ocean and terrestrial records give very opposite views on the South Asian monsoon: records of physical, chemical, and biological features of the North Indian Ocean reveal that the monsoon-induced upwelling has been strengthened between ca. 13 Ma and 8 Ma. The strengthening of upwelling is characterized by the rapid cooling of sea surface temperatures, the spike increases of cold water-dwelling foraminifera - the global bulloides, and the expansion of oxygen minimum zone; while terrestrial records reveal that the monsoonal precipitation became weaker, the climate became drier that drove the C4-grassland expansion, and chemical weathering lost its efficiency during the similar time interval. We organized a US-UK team (with six PIs from four institutes). We proposed to use an integrated approach that combines the strength of organic geochemistry proxy and numerical modeling studies. We aim to reconstruct a long-term history of the South Asian monsoon since the mid-Miocene to characterize the regional precipitation pattern, the ocean production, and ocean circulation patterns reflecting changes in chemical and physical conditions. We will then establish and delineate the linkages between the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, the evolution of monsoonal circulation, and ocean production in the context of numerical modeling simulations.