Portola Valley & Woodside SOD-BLITZ 2015
SUDDEN OAK DEATH /PHYTOPHTHORA RAMORUM

10:00 A.M. on Saturday, May 16, 2015
Independence Hall, 2955 Woodside Road, Woodside
Specimen Collection in the Field:  May 16 and/or 17, 2015

Sudden Oak Death (SOD) is a major problem in this area.
You can be a citizen-scientist and be part of the solution.
Only a bit of your time is required! 

If you join the SOD Blitz you will:

• spend one hour learning the basic biology of the disease and how to identify it in the field, making you an expert.
• receive all the necessary collection materials and instructions on how to collect a sample.
• spend one to four hours on your own in a location of your choice looking for disease symptoms and collecting symptomatic leaves.
• officially become a citizen scientist and your published disease distribution data will help save our oaks.

Tree care specialists can bring in client samples.

Participants are encouraged to download the free App, SODMAP mobile, to their iPhone or Android phone to help with data collection.

Matteo Garbelotto, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at U.C. Berkeley will answer questions about Sudden Oak Death and this study.

Samples will be collected by volunteers on Saturday, May 16 and/or Sunday, May 17 and returned to Woodside Town Hall for pickup by 4 p.m. on Sunday.

U.C. Berkeley diagnostic laboratory will analyze each sample through microscopic and DNA analysis. After all samples have been tested, a map will be generated confirming the presence or absence of the pathogen in the area. This map will expand the mapping which was generated by the SOD-BLITZs held 2008 through 2013. To see results from previous years, visit www.matteolab.com. 

For more information, please contact:

Kevin Bryant, Town of Woodside, 851-6790, kbryant@woodsidetown.org 
Brandi de Garmeaux, Town of Portola Valley, 851-1700 x222, bdegarmeaux@portolavalley.net