One of the primary strengths of La Kretz Center researchers is the intersection of conservation biology and cutting-edge genomic science. We actively fund projects that bring together academics, resource and land policy professionals, and regulatory experts to optimally use the power of genomics in the conservation of California’s threatened and exploited species. In partnership with the UCLA Grand Challenges program, we have launched the California Conservation Genomics Project. In addition, we continue to fund researchers as they quantify the distribution of genetic variation that is critical for adaptation and species resilience in the face of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and other challenges faced by declining species.
PROJECTS
Awardee: Joey Curti, second year doctoral student in the Wayne Lab. Joey is interested in applying whole-genome sequencing to address conservation management questions in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles and throughout California.
The CCGP is funded by the State of California, led by the UCLA/La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, and includes contributing scientists from all 10 UC campuses.
Awardee: Elijah Catalan, first year Ph.D. student at the Institute of Environment and Sustainability. Elijah's research intends to bring together genomic-based biodiversity monitoring, biogeochemistry, Indigenous tribal knowledge, and stewardship programs to understand the resilience of coastal and marine biodiversity to climate change and possibilities for adaptation on the West Coast.
Awardee: Tanner Waters, third-year doctoral student at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability studying marine genetics. Tanner's work uses environmental DNA (eDNA) to understand landscape scale conservation and restoration efforts.
Awardee: Maura Palacios, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Wayne Lab. Maura's projects use eDNA to assess species assemblages in the Mojave Desert Springs, a threatened ecosystem and to explore microbial community changes in relation to hazardous materials at Brownfield sites throughout Southern California, for potential bioremediation practices.
Awardee: Zack Gold, Ph.D. Candidate in Professor Paul Barber’s lab. Zack researches the effects of multiple human stressors on marine ecosystems using novel environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.
Awardees: Meixi Lin, second year Ph.D. student in the Wayne Lab, and Ana Garcia Vedrenne, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UCSB. Ana is using DNA meta-barcoding to identify and quantify parasite and pathogen biodiversity in California ecosystems. Meixi is intrigued by how molecular biology tools could help resolve previously impossible wildlife conservation puzzles.
La Kretz Postdoc Dr. Joscha Beninde is conducting a comparative landscape genomics study to understand how species survive and thrive in urban environments.
Awardee: Rachel Turba. Rachel is investigating shifts in community structure related to such impacts through exploration of environmental DNA from water samples and sediments from these lagoons, with the goal to address conservation efforts related to translocation of populations or local environment improvement.
Awardee: Kelly Barr, PhD Student. Kellys work surrounds using a massive genomic dataset to analyze these issues in Tricolored Blackbirds, a species that has undergone sharp declines and is under intense management throughout the state of California.
Awardee: Zack Gold, graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Zack is conducting a citizen science environmental DNA project to compare marine biodiversity inside and outside of coastal MPAs in Los Angeles County to understand how well fishing restrictions protect marine ecosystems.
The La Kretz Center is partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to generate genomic data to inform species listing decisions under the US Endangered Species Act.
Rapidly changing climate in California and around the world has the potential to cause a mismatch between the environmental conditions that plants are adapted to and the environmental conditions they…
UCLA researchers are actively restoring this site with native California grassland plants
La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Gary Bucciarelli works with the National Park Service to study threatened amphibian populations in southern California.
