Dr. Joshua Adams, Louisiana Tech University forestry professor, joined a research group on a three-year study of loblolly pine that has earned a three-year, $463,075 grant from the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The study, which will be conducted in partnership with faculty from the Louisiana State University AgCenter and Indiana University of Pennsylvania and members of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, will take place at the LSU AgCenter’s Hill Farm Research Station near Homer, Louisiana. Forestry is the No. 1 agricultural industry in the state of Louisiana. The study’s overall goal is to identify adaptations to drought in eastern and western sources of loblolly pine. They will test the effects of water stress and stand density on commonly planted loblolly pines. Knowledge of how genetic sources tolerate drought will benefit future selections of trees for commercial planting where drought is likely. The study will support one master’s student in its second and third years, and this student will be in residence at Louisiana Tech University.