New collaborative grants from the National Science Foundation will support the Joshua Tree Genome Project in studying how one of the most distinctive plants in the Mojave Desert has adapted to the drought and heat of its home range, how extreme desert climates shape the trees’ peculiar relationship with pollen-carrying moths, and how the genetic information within genomes is re-organized over millions of years.

The grants to Willamette University and California State University Northridge, totaling more than $1.5 million, will pay for the assembly of a Joshua tree reference genome and extensive tests of Joshua tree seedlings in experimental gardens. From this, it will be possible to identify genes that help the trees cope with different climate conditions, and pinpoint how different environmental factors have affected their evolution. To conduct the work, the grants will support research experiences for undergraduate students and interns, graduate student thesis projects, and the expansion of a pilot program in which community volunteers across the Mojave learn to map and monitor Joshua tree populations in their own backyards.