Ciara Garcia

School of Plant Sciences
ciarag@arizona.edu, Marley 821D

Advisor

Dr. A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold and Dr. David Baltrus

Educational Background

B.S. in Microbiology, Arizona State University, 2018

Research Interests

The plant microbiome exhibits extraordinary biological diversity, and exercises indispensable functional value for plant survival. I am interested in how microbes contribute to crop resilience and performance, and I believe that better understanding host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions within the microbiome can provide insights for sustainable agriculture. I am currently investigating how the sorghum microbiome differs as a function of genotype and drought, and am hoping to elucidate the potential causality of important crop phenotypes by key microbes.