Julia Gardner Harenčár
jgharencar@ucdavis.edu | OrcID: 0000-0001-6944-4337 | https://sites.google.com/view/juliaharencar
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2024
Dissertation: “The genetics and ecology of species maintenance despite hybridization”
M.A. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2022
M.S. Biology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with distinction, 2017
Thesis: “The population genetics of Morro Bay Eelgrass (Zostera marina)”
B.S. Biology: Ecological Theory and Practice, Mills College, Oakland, Summa Cum Laude, 2015
Thesis: “Ecological drivers of local adaptation and the underlying genetic mechanisms”
Published:
Harenčár JG, D Salazar-Amoretti, C García-Robledo, KM Kay. 2024. Growth–defense trade-offs promote habitat isolation between recently-diverged species. Ecology and Evolution, 14(7), e11609.
RM Merrill, H Arenas-Castro, AF Feller, JG Harenčár, M Rossi, MA Streisfeld, KM Kay. 2023. Genetics and the Evolution of Prezygotic Isolation. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 15(10)
Harenčár JG, OM Vargas, M Escalona, DW Schemske, KM Kay. 2023. Genome assemblies and comparison of two neotropical spiral gingers: Costus pulverulentus and C. lasius. Jornal of Heredity, 114(3), 286-293.
Harenčár JG, E Ávila-Lovera, G Goldsmith, GF Chen, KM Kay. 2022. Flexible drought deciduousness in a neotropical understory herb. American Journal of Botany, 109(8), 1262-1272.
Cronin MR, SH Alonzo, SK Adamczak, DN Baker, RS Beltran, AL Borker, AB Favilla, R Gatins, LC Goetz, N Hack, JG Harenčár, EA Howard, MC Kustra, R Maguiña, L Martinez-Estevez, RS Mehta, IM Parker, K Reid, MB Roberts, SB Shirazi, TAM Tatom-Naecker, KM Voss, E Willis-Norton, B Vadakan, AM Valenzuela-Toro, ES Zavaleta. 2021 Anti-racist interventions to transform ecology, evolution and conservation biology departments. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(9), 1213-1223.
Lu-Irving P, JG Harenčár, H Sounart, SP Welles, SM Swope, DA Baltrus, KM Dlugosch. 2019. Native and invading yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) microbiomes differ in composition and diversity of bacteria. mShpere, 4(2), e00088-19.
Harenčár JG, G LutgenU, Z TaylorU, N Saarman, J Yost. 2018. How population decline can impact population genetics: A case Study of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Morro Bay. Estuaries and Coasts, 41, 2356-2367.
(U undergrad mentees)
In preparation:
Harenčár JG, KM Kay. The genetics of tropical ginger species maintenance despite introgression. Target: Molecular Ecology
Harenčár JG, SM Swope. Population genetics of metapopulation dynamics in the rare endemic Streptanthus glandulosus ssp. secundus Target: Biological Conservation
2025-2027 USDA AFRI NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship, $224,454
2024-2025 (offered till 2026) Center for Population Biology Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Davis, offered: $147,946 accepted: $78,737
2024 STARS Re-entry Scholarship, University of California Santa Cruz, $2,000
2023-24 Chancellor's Fellowship, University of California Santa Cruz, $16,440
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Fellowship, University of California Santa Cruz, $6,000, $7,200, $7,423, $6,200, $5350
2023 CITL Pedagogy Fellowship, University of California Santa Cruz, $600
2023 Dean’s Travel Grant, University of California Santa Cruz, $350
2022 The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Tropical Botany, $5,500
2021 Plant Science Fund Student Award, $2,520
2020 Jean H. Langenheim Graduate Fellowship in Plant Ecology and Evolution, $10,000
2020 Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant, $2,500
2017 CSUPERB student travel grant, California Polytechnic State University, $1,493
2016 California Native Plant Society Helen Sharsmith Grant, $1,002
2016 David and Frieda Wertman Scholarship, $15,855
2016 The Garden Club of America summer scholarship in field botany, $2,500
2015 California Native Plant Society San Luis Obispo chapter McLeod scholarship, $750
2015 Graduate Equity Fellowship, California Polytechnic State University, $1,000
2015 Resident Tuition Waiver (limited number), California Polytechnic State University, $9,789
2014 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Grant, Mills College, $351
2014 Soroptimist International of Mendocino Scholarship, $3,000
2013 California Native Plant Society Educational Grant, Mills College, $500
2013 & 2014 Jill Barrett Fellowship, Mills College, $2300 each year
2011 CV Starr Scholarship, $10,000
2011 Rotary International of Mendocino Scholarship, $4,000
2011 Soroptimist International of Mendocino Scholarship, $3,000
2023 Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar Award, $11,070
2023 American Society of Naturalists Outstanding Student Presentation Award, $400
2022 P.E.O. International Scholar Award, $20,000
2022 American Society of Naturalists Student Research Award, $2,000
2022 Outstanding TA Award, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UCSC, $100
2016 The American Society of Plant Taxonomists Graduate Student Award, $750
2016 Graduate Student Presentation Award, California Polytechnic State University, $500
2016 & 2015 Northern California Botanists student travel award, $200 each year
2015 Elizabeth Mudd Senior Prize, Mills College, “For excellence in scholarship” voted on by all campus faculty and awarded to one senior in the graduating class (Mills valedictorian), $250
2015 Bruce McCollum Prize, Mills College, awarded to two seniors in the Natural Science and Mathematics Division with the highest attainment in scholarship, voted on by all division faculty, $250
2015 Eugene Trefethen Award, Mills College, “Recognizes the graduating senior scholar-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA”
2015 & 2013 Palladium Honor Society (leadership and service award)
2015 Patrice Griffin Award, Mills College, $50
2013 Mary Wetmore Prize for Sophomore Achievement, Mills College, $500
Biotic and abiotic drivers of neotropical plant speciation, Research Assistant
Kay Lab, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2018-present
Estuary avian community shift after eelgrass collapse, Research Assistant
Francis, Yost, and O’Leary labs, California Polytechnic State University, 2016
Microbial interactions on a highly invasive plant (Centauria solstitialis), Research Technician
Dlugosch Lab, University of Arizona, Summer 2015
Rare California plant demography, adaptation, and genetics, Research Assistant
Swope lab, Mills College, 2013-2015
The impacts of functional diversity on carbon sequestration in tropical forests, Undergraduate Researcher
Hager lab, School for Field Studies in Atenas, Costa Rica, Spring 2014
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, CA
Systematic Botany of Flowering Plants (BIOE117)
Teaching Assistant (Winter 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023)
Instructor of Record (Winter 2021, 2022)
Remote Activities for Plant Science
Graduate Student Researcher (Spring 2021; included creation of six educational videos)
Evolution (BIOE109)
Teaching Assistant (Spring 2020)
Biology Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
General Botany Lab
Teaching Assistant (2015-2017)
Lab Instructor (lecturer position; Spring 2018)
Plant Diversity and Ecology Lab
Teaching Assistant (2016-2017)
Lab Instructor (lecturer position; Spring 2018)
Independent
R package tutorial
Co-created the most popular vegan R tutorial video (2016)
Planting Science
Mentor/Liaison - through plantingscience.org (2016-2017)
Mills College, Oakland, CA
Plant Ecology with Lab
Teaching Assistant (2015)
General Biology
Teaching Assistant (2013)
General Chemistry
Peer Tutor (2012-2013)
Mentoring programs
Peer to Peer Mentoring Graduate Student Program (2022-present)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, UC Santa Cruz
WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) GradPath Mentoring, UC Santa Cruz (2022-present)
Pairs graduate students with undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds
Frost Undergraduate Research Program, Cal Poly, SLO (2016-2017)
Eelgrass Genetic Assessment project- Supervised and mentored two undergraduate students in lab techniques, poster presentation, oral presentation, and data management.
Undergraduate mentee workshops
Introductory R workshop series: Using swirl to self-teach R basics; data management with dplyr; basic plotting with ggplot
Resume and CV building workshop
Undergraduate student research assistants
2022-present Melina Carrizosa (UCSC) - greenhouse data logger management and plant traits;
Senior thesis student mentee: “Leaf death versus senescence during drought”
2022-2023 Alyssa Kaatmann (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control
2022-2023 Abigail Holtz (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control, greenhouse plant traits
2022-2023 Madison Evanow (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control, greenhouse plant traits
2022-2023 Aubrie Tait (UCSC) - greenhouse dry down experiment management and plant traits
2021-2023 Michael Soares (UCSC) - greenhouse plant traits
2021-2022 Avery Hansen (UCSC) - greenhouse data logger management and plant traits
2021-2022 Erin Thomspon (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control, greenhouse plant traits
2021-2022 Wade Matern (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control
2019-2020 Hannah Thacker (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control
2019-2020 Kelsey Cochran (UCSC) - DNA extraction and quality control
2019-2021 Reed Hammock (UCSC) - greenhouse plant traits
2018-2020 Sarah Ashlock (UCSC) - greenhouse plant traits
2016-2017 Zachary Taylor (Cal Poly, SLO) - DNA extraction and quality control
2016-2017 Greg Lutgen (Cal Poly, SLO) - DNA extraction and quality control
Conference Presentations
Gordon Research Seminar – Speciation, Ventura, CA (2025). Harenčár JG. “Ecophysiology of adaptive divergence in spiral gingers through abiiotic-biotic synergy”
Gordon Research Seminar – Speciation, Lucca, Italy (2023). Harenčár JG. “The ecology and genetics of species maintenance between two neotropical herbs”
American Society of Naturalists, Asilomar (2023). Harenčár JG. “Closely related ginger species remain distinct despite recent and ancient gene flow”
Biodiversity Genomics annual meeting (2022), virtual. Harenčár JG. “Closely related ginger species remain distinct despite recent and ancient gene flow”
Evolution annual meeting (2022). Harenčár JG. “Closely related ginger species remain distinct despite recent and ancient gene flow”
Biennial UC Santa Cruz Plant Sciences Symposium (2022), Santa Cruz, California. Harenčár JG. “Flexible drought avoidance in a lowland neotropical spiral ginger”
California Botanical Society Graduate student symposium (2019), San Luis Obispo, California. Harenčár JG. “The genetic basis of speciation in spiral gingers”
Biennial UC Santa Cruz Plant Sciences Symposium (2019), Santa Cruz, California. Harenčár JG. “The genetic basis of speciation in spiral gingers”
Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (2017), Portland, Oregon. Harenčár JG, Greg L, Zachary T, Yost J. “Genetic diversity retained after a population bottleneck: Hope for Morro Bay eelgrass”
Western Society of Naturalists Annual Meeting (2016), Monterey, California. Harenčár JG, Petrelli A, Yost J, Francis C, O’Leary J. “Morro Bay avian community shift associated with eelgrass collapse”
Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (2016), Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Harenčár JG, Swope SM. “Differences in the dynamics and structure of small and large populations of the threatened plant, Calochortus tiburonensis”
Jill Barrett Research Symposium (2014), Mills College, California. Harenčár JG, Lee G. (2014) “Inbreeding vs. outbreeding depression in a rare plant”
Jill Barrett Research Symposium (2013), Mills College, California. Harenčár JG. “The effect of pollen quality and quantity on seed set in Calochortus tiburonensis”
Posters
Gordon Research Conference – Speciation, Ventura, CA (2025). Harenčár JG & Kay KM. "The genetics of ecogeographic isolation despite introgression between two Neotropical plants."
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists annual symposium (2024) Harenčár JG. "The ecology and genetics of species maintenance despite hybridization"
Northern California Botanists conference (2017), Chico, California. Harenčár JG, Greg L, Zachary T, Yost J. “Genetic Diversity in Morro Bay Eelgrass: A System in Collapse”
Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (2014), Sacramento, California. Swope SM, Harenčár JG, Lee G, Thrumston D, Franson K. “Variation in the viability of populations of the rare endemic Calochortus tiburonensis”
Invited Seminars and Lectures
Invited Darwin Days Seminar, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. (2025) Harenčár JG. "The ecology and genetics of species boundaries between
hybridizing Neotropical spiral gingers"
Invited seminar in Spanish for "Hablamos de ecología y evolución", UC Davis, Davis CA (2025) Harenčár JG. "La ecología de adaptación divergente entre dos especies de Costus"
Guest lecture for Plant Ecology, UC Davis, Davis CA (2024) Harenčár JG. "Plant-Herbivore Interactions"
Invited Seminar to the Center for Population Biology, UC Davis, Davis CA. (2024) Harenčár JG. “Spiraling through a rad topic: Opposing outcomes of hybridization in spiral gingers and radishes”
Guest lecture to biology students at the University of Panama (2022). Harenčár JG. “Ecología y genética de la hibridación entre dos especies de Costus”
Guest lecture for Plant Ecology (2022), Mills College, Oakland CA. Harenčár JG. “Growth-defense trade-offs in neotropical spiral gingers”
Jepson Herbaria at UC Berkeley Botany Lunch talk (2021), UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA. Harenčár JG. “Flexible drought avoidance in a lowland neotropical spiral ginger”
Guest lecture for Graduate Pedagogy Practices in EEB (2021), UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA. Harenčár JG. “Anti-Racist Teaching Practices”
Guest presentation for Dr. Molly Schumer’s Lab (2021), Stanford University, Stanford CA. Harenčár JG. “The ecology and genetics of spiral ginger species divergence and maintenance”
Outreach research talk to botany focused undergraduates (2021), UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA. Harenčár JG. “The ecology and genetics of spiral ginger species divergence and maintenance”
Guest lecture for Plant Taxonomy (2020), Humboldt State University, Humboldt CA. Harenčár JG. “Spiral Ginger Speciation: Ecogeographic Isolation” (Oral presentation)
Guest lecture for Plant Ecology (2020), Mills College, Oakland CA. Harenčár JG. “Mechanisms of speciation and diversification”
Guest lecture for Systematic Botany of Flowering plants (2020), University of California, Santa Cruz. Harenčár JG. “Defense against the dark arts: The evolution of plant-herbivore defenses”
Outreach research talk to undergraduates (2019), Las Cruces biological station, Costa Rica. Harenčár JG. “The genetic basis of speciation in spiral gingers”
Guest lecture for Systematic Botany of Flowering plants (2019), University of California, Santa Cruz. Harenčár JG. “Local adaptation”
Central Coast Biological Society Meeting (2017), San Luis Obispo, California. Harenčár JG, Greg L, Zachary T, Yost J. “Genetic diversity retained after a population bottleneck: Hope for Morro Bay eelgrass”
California Native Plant Society San Luis Obispo Chapter Meeting (2016), San Luis Obispo, California. Harenčár JG “Cryptic goldfields: a case of reticulate evolution?”
Presentations
Presentation and workshop on improving mentor-mentee communication for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Faculty, Harenčár JG and Rachel Pausch. “EEB Faculty Conversation about Mentorship”, UCSC, Winter 2022
Presentation to The NABCI Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Justice meeting. Harenčár JG. “The ‘code of conduct’ as a tool for facilitating discussion and action”, North American Bird Conservation Initiative, Fall 2021
WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) May Day Wildflower Walk Leader, UCSC,
May 2021
Educational video for WiSE outreach, UCSC, August 2020
Training and Certifications
Proactive DEI workshop, UCSC, Oct. 5, 2023
Preventing sexual harassment and assault in field settings, FieldFutures, Spring 2023
Mental Health Training, Counseling & Psychological Services, UC Santa Cruz, Nov. 9, 2022
Intentional, Inclusive, and Effective Peer Mentorship Workshop, Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL), UC Santa Cruz, October 27, 2022
Teaching for Equity Certification, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, UCSC,
Spring 2022
Department Anti-Racist and Settler Responsibility bookclub co-organizer, UCSC, 2020-21
Making the CAISE: Creating Active and Inclusive Section Experiences, a teaching workshop for graduate students, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz,
September 28, 2018
Undocumented student ally training and certification, California Polytechnic State University, Spring 2018
The American Naturalist Press Release team co-editor-in-chief, American Society of Naturalists, April 2023-present
Founder and manager of WAG (Writing Accountability Group) - a group providing writing support for graduate students and postdocs, UCSC, Spring 2021- present
Presented at a graduate school informational session for mentees, UCSC, Fall 2022
Panelist on graduate school panel for undergraduate students, UCSC, November 2022
Panelist on comprehensive exams panel for first- and second-year graduate students, UCSC, April 2021
Graduate Student Representative to Faculty, UCSC, 2020-2022
Lab Safety Representative, Kay Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCSC, 2019-2023
Watsonville Middle School science fair judge, 2019
EEB department representative to the Graduate Student Association, UCSC, 2019-2020
Graduate Student Association Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department representative, UCSC, 2018-2020
Graduate Coordination Committee Graduate Student Representative, Cal Poly, 2016-2017
Regular Sweet Springs Reserve restoration volunteer, 2015-2017
Residential Assistant, Mills College, 2013-2015
Active
American Society of Naturalists - American Naturalist Press Release co-editor-in-chief; April 2023-present
Society for the Study of Evolution
American Genetics Association
Botanical Society of America
Previous
Society of Systematic Biologists
American Society of Plant Taxonomists
American Society for the Advancement of Science
Western Society of Naturalists
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology