Guzman is working to set up a new experiment on the St. Paul campus, which he plans to have fully operational by the 2026 growing season.
One lab on campus is taking a unique approach to deal with the sticky days of summer in Minnesota: dehumidify the air outside. Well, at least a handful of prairie plants should feel the relief by next summer.
Dehumidifying the air outside sounds hard and it is. “We’re not aware of anyone trying to do what we’re doing,” says Danny Guzman, the lab manager for Sasha Wright’s research group.
Next growing season, Guzman and Wright, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, hope to pump dehumidified air into experimental pots. By reducing humidity levels in some of their pots, they can continue exploring how humidity, in combination with drought, impacts grassland communities.
Humidity can not only change dramatically across the broader landscape — from a nested valley to an exposed ridge — it can also change at a much smaller scale. Within just feet of each other, different plants can create more humid conditions for their neighbors. But the actual effect of humidity on plant community dynamics is not well known, largely because humidity is difficult to manipulate in an open environment.
"We know from 25 years of research that diverse prairies in Minnesota are more resistant to drought, but we know almost nothing about the role of dry air,” says Wright. “We are working to change this, but it takes lots of tinkering to figure out how to actually do these experiments outdoors."
Inside, out
When Guzman started his undergraduate studies, he juggled classes and a job working in retail. It was a challenge to do both, and after a while, the demands of work became too much, and he paused his schoolwork. For a few years, the work was tolerable, and he appreciated the chance to problem-solve, think on his feet, and work on a team.
Over time, though, his feelings started to shift. He didn’t like his job anymore and needed a change. “Going through boxes of clothing and seeing how much waste there was made me want to do something that mattered,” reflects Guzman.
With a push from his cousin, he made the leap to finish his undergraduate studies. By then, he knew what his focus was going to be: environmental science. Through these classes and work experiences, he found purpose. He continued his studies with a master’s degree, which is ultimately where his path crossed with Wright, then at California State University, Los Angeles.
When Wright approached him about the lab manager role in 2022, Guzman was all in. During his master’s degree, he worked to design, build, and implement complex experimental setups and loved it. The first major project of his new role required skills he fostered for years, both in the classroom and on the job.
Familiar, but different
For Guzman, the experimental setup he’s building on the St. Paul campus is reminiscent of what he designed and built in Los Angeles in 2023. That site is also geared at untangling how humidity and drought impact plant communities. There’s one important difference: in Los Angeles, instead of dehumidifying the air, they’re adding more humidity.
While Guzman is optimistic that their experimental design will work, he acknowledges there’s a plan B. “If we cannot dehumidify the air, we will increase the humidity instead,” he says. “Even though it’s humid in Minnesota, we could bump up the humidity even more.”
This means an 80% day would turn into an even more sultry 90% for some prairie plants. Lucky for them, they’re built differently.
Guzman will return to Los Angeles soon to oversee the experiment there during Southern California’s winter growing season, then head back before Minnesota's season resumes again in the spring. Traveling with the growing seasons suits him. As he puts it, “My favorite part of the research is watching the plants grow.” –Claire Wilson