Join us for our December presentation when Dr. Ed Bobich, Professor of Biological Sciences at Cal Poly Pomona, will discuss his work on drought responses in desert perennials and two iconic coastal trees. Southern California has recently been experiencing some of the most devastating droughts of the last millennium. Drought effects were seen in the deserts first, with massive die-offs of certain species as early as 2004. On the coastal side of the mountains, similar effects of the continued drought eventually led to widespread mortality of trees and shrubs by 2014.  In this talk, we will discuss how desert perennials, native walnuts, and coast live oaks have responded to these stressful conditions and speculate on their future.

Ed Bobich received his B.A. in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.  Ed has also worked as a postdoc at Biosphere 2 Center and as a visiting faculty member at Whittier College. He has studied the anatomy, biomechanics, and physiological ecology of plants ranging from prickly pears to rainforest trees and is currently focusing his research on the responses of desert perennials and native California trees to extreme drought at Cal Poly Pomona.