This study is intended to provide a detailed summary of the botanical resources (both vascular and non-vascular plants) of the Santa Clara (called Utom by the Chumash) River Watershed that will support the conservation of these resources and appropriate land use decisions made within and adjacent to the watershed.  These resources are unique and of great importance to the indigenous peoples (Chumash and Tatavian) that originally occupied this territory and those that have arrived subsequently, and to the botanical scientific community and conservation organizations such as the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), Wishtoyo Foundation, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash, and others. This study provides a description of the biogeography of the watershed and its flora with over 2,300 plant taxa reported for the region.

Biography: Jordan has been a lover of plants since a young age, growing up in their grandma’s garden. This passion for plants continued on to college. Jordan attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA where they studied Biodiversity Conservation and Landscape Horticulture. Throughout their time they were a dedicated student curator at the Robert F. Hoover Herbarium, greenhouse and horticultural enthusiast, as well as teaching assistant for many botany courses. Jordan had the opportunity to work with the US Fish & Wildlife Service alongside Dr. Jenn Yost to help conserve a federally endangered plant species: Gambel’s Watercress. In addition, they also worked with the Morro Bay National Estuary Program, graduate student Erin Aiello, and Dr. Yost to help transplant eelgrass in Morro Bay to preserve a dying population. This work really solidified Jordan’s passion for ecosystem restoration and rare plant protection. At CNPS, Jordan is a field botanist in the Rare Plant Program conducting rare plant surveys, vascular floristic surveys, and bryophyte surveys.