S'more Science Lecture Series

The revamped S'more Science lecture series will occur monthly once a month on a Friday from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Joshua Tree National Park Store (West), 55922 29 Palms Hwy Yucca Valley, CA. The lectures, curated by the JTNPA Education team, will be designed to make scientific content accessible to the public. 

This is ADA accessible - little to no travel required.

The Slice of Science series bridges the gap between scientific research and the public by disseminating relevant findings and fostering community engagement. The program was developed to meet the presentation requirement of the Marian Huff Tremblay Science Scholarship. We will host a range of desert researchers and scientists for this programming, widening the scope beyond scholarship awardees. 

Desert Institute has a long history of community outreach, providing hundreds of public lectures and events over the past 20 years that elucidate the natural and cultural histories of the Morongo Basin and Coachella Valley. The Slice of Science lecture series features lectures, presentations, demonstrations, and workshops by scientists and researchers who focus their efforts on desert environments. These lectures are a suggested donation of $5 and open to the public!  

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Friday, September 12, 6:00 - 7:00 PM

Leveraging an Outlier Desert Population to Characterize Drought Adaptation in a

Chaparral Species, by Angela Buehlman

Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) are some of the most recognizable and emblematic shrubs of California’s iconic chaparral habitats. The genus is highly diverse, with the majority of the approximately 60 species occupying restricted ranges in the coastal regions of Central and Northern California. Within Joshua Tree National Park is a very unusual population of one of the few widespread manzanita species, Arctostaphylos glauca, the big berry manzanita. Though the species is widespread and occurs in various habitat types throughout much of California and into Baja California, the Joshua Tree population of big berry manzanita faces extremes in both heat and drought not experienced by chaparral populations. It is also likely to be the easternmost population of the species and may represent the adaptive limit of big berry manzanita. The Joshua Tree population provides an exceptional opportunity to assess the presence of adaptive features that allow this population to withstand the extremes of the Mojave Desert compared to its chaparral counterparts. Traits which reflect how a species interacts with or responds to its environment are called “Functional traits.” There are a number of leaf functional traits which are associated with drought tolerance. We selected several of those traits for comparison between the Joshua Tree big berry manzanita population and two chaparral populations. These comparisons can provide insights and improve our understanding about how populations in different habitats respond to drought, and what the limitations of drought tolerance in the species may be. Such information is valuable for creating effective conservation and management strategies as heat and drought events become more frequent and intense.

Amanda is a first-generation college student from Southern California. She initially began her higher education journey at a community college before transferring to the University of California, Riverside, where she pursued an undergraduate degree in plant biology with a concentration in genetics. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Amanda continued her studies at UCR, enrolling in the Plant Biology PhD program. She joined Team Manzanita, led by Principal Investigator Amy Litt. Amanda's research focuses on understanding the genetic variation and Eco physiological traits of natural plant populations, with a particular emphasis on those within and around the California Floristic Province.

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Friday, October 3, 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Examining Chagas disease, a deadly parasitic illness, in Joshua Tree National Park, by Sean Sweeney.

Chagas disease is an understudied, deadly parasitic disease that can cause heart failure in one-third of those infected. This illness is spread through contact with the triatomine insect, also known as the “kissing bug” or “conenose bug”. These insects are found throughout South America, Central America, and the American Southwest, including San Bernadino and Riverside counties. Despite the presence of triatomines, little is known about the state of Chagas disease in this region of California or in Joshua Tree National Park. My research is focused on describing the state of Chagas disease in this region through an examination of local triatomine insects, community residents, and National Parks Service Employees. By screening individuals for antibodies, collecting triatomine insects, analyzing collected triatomines for parasites, and disseminating behavioral risk factor surveys, I hope to better understand the scope of Chagas disease in the surrounding Joshua Tree National Park area.

Sean Sweeney is a PhD student majoring in Epidemiology at the University of South Carolina. As an infectious disease researcher, Sean has had experience working with tickborne viruses, foodborne outbreaks, and respiratory diseases like COVID-19. His current research focuses on diseases transmitted by insect vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, and kissing bugs.

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Friday, November 14, 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Ecological Divergence and Hybrid Speciation in the Penstemons of Southern California, by S. Gangothri. 

Hybridization plays a crucial role in plant speciation, with one notable outcome being homoploid hybrid speciation. In this process, a new reproductively isolated, hybrid lineage arises without a shift in chromosomal number from its parent species. This is less understood as reproductive isolation between hybrids and their parents may arise through various pathways, including chromosomal rearrangements, ecological divergence, or sorting parental genetic incompatibilities in the hybrids. The genus Penstemon includes a group of plant species that are thought to have undergone a homoploid hybridization event. Specifically, P. spectabilis and P. centranthifolius have hybridized to give rise to the hybrid species P. clevelandii.  My research aims at understanding the ecological and genetic processes underlying homoploid hybrid speciation in Penstemons. Currently, I am investigating the reproductive barriers that maintain species boundaries between the hybrid and its parent species. These barriers may include ecological differentiation, such as habitat preference, variation in flowering time, or distinct pollinator interactions, as well as cross-incompatibility between the hybrid and parent species. Going forward, I aim to assess the evolutionary history of hybrid species P. clevelandii using genetic data and understand how hybridization could contribute to the reproductive isolation between the hybrid and parent species.

Gangothri is a second-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Kate Ostevik’s lab at the University of California, Riverside. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms that drive species diversity and their adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in India. During her undergraduate studies, she explored topics such as the impact of food quality on male sexually selected traits and the evolutionary ecology of eye pattern variation in frogs. For her master’s research, she worked in the Western Ghats—one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots—where she investigated the role of pollinator interactions in plant community assembly and how Flor ivory influences sex expression in plants. Her current doctoral work examines hybrid speciation in Penstemon species native to S.

Photo credit: Desert Institute Riley Vallo