Hydraulic function and carbon metabolism of three southern California oak species
Awardee: Anna Ongjoco, Ph.D student co-advised by Dr. Elsa Ordway at UCLA and Dr. Leander Anderegg at UCSB.
PROJECTS
Investigating Local Adaptation of Heteromeles arbutifolia using a Common Garden Approach.
Awardee: Laurel Thomas, undergraduate student completing her degree in Environmental Science with minors in Conservation Biology and Environmental Engineering. Laurel is passionate about conserving and increasing access to California native plants and their respective ecosystems
Irrigation Team: Investigating various irrigation types on campus and their corresponding water use savings
The 2023 Irrigation Team will investigate the water usage across various irrigation types at turf areas on campus and calculate water savings associated with converting these areas to native landscaping…
Tracking changes in photosynthetic activity of native California plants
Awardee: Alannah Linden, third year atmospheric and oceanic sciences / mathematics major. Alannah has interests in a range of physical sciences subjects.
Toward a conservation physiology of Californian flora: assessing drought vulnerability across species and ecosystems
Awardee: Camila Medeiros, PhD Student. Camila's project aims to quantify the vulnerability of woody plant species to drought in key ecosystem types of California and model species’ relative sensitivities to drought under future climate change scenarios.
“Global-Change-Type Drought” Effects on the Metaplasticity of Native California Plant Species: Implications for Restoration
Awardee: Jacqueline Zhang, Undergraduate in Environmental Science Department. Jacqueline is studying a plant’s phenotypic plasticity and will explore whether or not we can prime plants to become more drought tolerant before transplanting them into their native, water-stressed environment.
Deploying Arable ‘PulsePod’ Sensors to Continuously and Remotely Monitor Plant Stress
Awardee: Alexandria Pivovaroff, Ph.D. Alexandria's research will remotely monitor plant stress using newly developed sensors to understand both short- and long-term responses.
Exploring the role of plant maternal effects in response to drought in restoration
Awardee: Evelin Escobedo, Undergraduate in the Environmental Science Department. Evelin is studying how maternal effects in plants can help restore native plant communities that are resistant to impacts of drought.
Drought Influence on Chlorophyll Fluorescence in Evergreen and Deciduous Plant Species of Southern California
Awardee: Ariel Pezner. Ariel's research focuses on the effects of drought on the chlorophyll fluorescence of four drought deciduous and evergreen plant species native to Southern California.