Landscape Genomics of California Blue Oak Applied to Climate Change Adaptation
Mentors & Lab: Dr. Rachel Meyer, Blair McLaughlin, & Ioana Anghel – Conservation Science and Stewardship Lab, Meyer Lab
Positions: 1-2 interns
Tentative dates: June-August 2025
Project Location: Lab is located at the UCSC Coastal Campus; potential day or overnight trips to oak woodland field sites for sample collection.
Project Background: Blue oaks (Quercus douglasii) are foundational species supporting wildlife in the Sierra foothills, central valley, and coast ranges of California. This oak is already experiencing die-offs with climate change and is expected to lose much of its current distribution over the next century. This project studies how whether blue oak has experiencing natural selection for drought tolerance in different parts of its range, and relates selection to the genomic diversity across the landscape of their range. The project’s goals are to inform how to help land managers conserve this species with climate change through novel strategies such as assisted gene flow.
Intern duties:
The CAMINO intern will assist a postdoc and the research team with field work to evaluate habitat and collect oak DNA samples, and with molecular lab work to make whole genome shotgun libraries and study signatures of selection. The intern’s work will contribute to datasets that enable discovery of drought tolerance mutations. They will learn some bioinformatics skills to associate genotype with phenotype, and to identify functional mutations in candidate drought tolerance genes.
Intern qualifications: A highly qualified applicant for this CAMINO internship should have taken Genetics and Evolution or equivalent courses, should have an aptitude for computer work such as R, Python, or Bash, should be well-organized and ready to keep detailed notes, and should have good time management and communication. Pipetting and DNA extraction or library preparation skills are a plus but not required. They should have a strong interest in building field experience in California, which can at times be strenuous in summer climate. Open communication and a good attitude is key to setting up a healthy, highly collaborative, and safe learning experience for both the field and lab components.
Do you recommend the intern(s) volunteer in your lab during Spring quarter?
Possibly.