Community science project to track the evolution of plants

[Ariel Levi Simons]

Passing this one along:

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PROJECT BASELINE is a research seedbank designed to study the evolution of wild plants. Millions of seeds representing 65 taxa across 270 sites in the continental USA were collected by maternal line to facilitate evolutionary and ecological research using the resurrection approach. Dormant ancestors of known age from the Project Baseline seedbank can be reared in a common garden with contemporary descendants collected from the same site to directly observe evolutionary change over time and examine how it differs across space. Now that the seedbank has been successfully established, it's time for researchers like you to start using it!

Questions that can be addressed using the Project Baseline seed bank include, but are not limited to:
-- How fast is adaptive evolution occurring and can it keep pace with climate change?
-- How variable are evolutionary rates among populations across a species' range?
-- How does the genetic architecture of populations evolve in a rapidly changing environment?
-- How do reproductive, physiological or phenological traits evolve in the context of changes in the length of growing season, onset of summer drought or increased climatic variation?

The Project Baseline team is hosting a FREE three-part workshop series designed to introduce potential researchers to the collection, discuss best practices for using the collection and to facilitate potential research collaborations. Join us via Zoom on October 5, 12, and 19, 2021 @ 3:00 - 5:00 pm EST to learn more! Online registration will open soon!

TO LEARN MORE:
-- View a flyer about the workshop series at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KPX86vqkbnqnplCA89V7acCAkrorjSMr/view?usp=sharing
-- Request to be added to our email list for the workshops via the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRSvSUISFBdeHg9vid1VkBbtuVmKVVWj6uJnPac-IYUX8F0Q/viewform?usp=sf_link
-- Email projectbase...@gmail.com   to express your interest in the workshops
-- Find us on twitter @PBseedbank
-- Find us on Facebook @projectbaselineseedbank
-- Visit our website at www.baselineseedbank.org

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Ariel Levi Simons