My team of researchers from the University of Malaga and I were awarded funding by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación to conduct a four-year project on adaptation of plants to serpentine soil and climatic variation, titled "Elucidating relationships of adaptation to extreme soils and climate with RAD sequencing".  The award has the identifier PID2020-118028GB-I00 and the total award, including indirect costs, is for €174,240.  The project officially started 1 September 2021 and will finish at the end of August, 2025. 

In January, 2022, the Research Team (María Teresa Navarro del Águila and Andres Vicente Pérey Latorre of the University of Málaga) were able to welcome the new doctoral student Pablo Arrufat of San Sebestian, Bizkaia, into the project. Pablo has received four years of support from the Basque Government.  Also in January, the single member of the Working Team (Equipo de Trabajo), Noelia Hidalgo Triana, also of the University of Málaga, received a 5-year contract at the University of Málaga.  This has allowed us to petition the Minesterio for her inclusion in the Research Team.

We are looking to begin the field season in just a few days, although we face a number of potential challenges.  The entire area of serpentine soil in southern Spain burned late last year and there has been an extrememly dry winter.  We do not know what effect this will have on the resprouting of plants in the serpentine area, or the phenology of plant populations throughout the southern Iberian Peninsula.  Time will tell, and within a very few months we should have a much better picture of how our collecting plans are panning out.