The Daru lab at Stanford University is starting a new project to understand how climate change disrupts seagrass�"microbe associations along the California Pacific coast. This work aims to understand the impacts of warming oceans and other environmental stressors on seagrass health. We will use herbarium specimens (historical preserved seagrass samples) with new field collections across field sites spanning the coastline of California, combined with next-generation sequencing of microbial DNA. Ultimately, the project will track changes in seagrass microbiomes over time and space to understand whether beneficial microbes help seagrasses adapt to environmental change or whether shifting microbial communities contribute to seagrass decline. Seagrass meadows are important for carbon sequestration (“blue carbon”) and nursery grounds for marine life. However, their survival in a rapidly changing ocean may depend on unseen allies: the bacteria and fungi that live within seagrass roots and leaves. Your research will help shed light on these hidden interactions to inform how we might safeguard or restore coastal ecosystems under threat. Apply here: https://forms.gle/osDT5fYWzh6XczfDA Barnabas Daru Assistant Professor of Biology Stanford University Email: bdaru@stanford.edu Lab website: darulab.org Barnabas Daru (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)