Undergraduate researcher, Mikayla Kaliski, is studying the difference in the types of volatile organic compounds emitted by a variety of manzanita cultivars. Previous results suggest manzanitas emit a lot of sesquiterpenes – compounds that influence important atmospheric and ecological processes.

Plants and microbes independently alter key soil properties which can affect the performance of both communities, especially under future global change. Our current project aims to understand how these biotic interactions impact the way plants and microbes respond specifically to drought. We paired native Artemisia californica seedlings with soil microbial communities which had experienced 10 years of ambient local precipitation or a 50% reduction in rainfall. We are now measuring how these plant-microbial combinations perform under well-watered or drought conditions.