Patterns of Adaptive Genetic Variation in a Chaparral Oak, Quercus berberidifolia

Awardee: Jacqueline Holmes

Bio:
Jacqueline Holmes is a third-year Ph.D. student in Vicotoria Sork’s Lab
in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at UCLA. Her research focuses on
understanding the genomic basis of climate adaptation in the California scrub oak (Quercus
berberidifolia). She aims to assess potential maladaptation across its range under various climate
scenarios and test these predictions through experimental approaches. Outside of the lab, She enjoys backpacking and exploring the beautiful landscapes of California with her two energetic dogs.

Project:
Severe droughts in California’s chaparral ecosystems threaten the
survival of woody plants like the California scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia). The goal of this
project is to guide conservation and management efforts to promote and protect chaparral shrubs.
This project will conduct a seedling drought-stress experiment to generate phenotypic data,
assessing the extent to which drought responses of California scrub oak from different parts of
the range are genetically based and shaped by local adaptation. This phenotypic data will also be
integrated with genomic predictions to identify regions of future vulnerability, which can serve
as climate-adaptive seed sources.