The Morton Arboretum (including Andrew Hipp, Rebekah Mohn, Marlene Hahn, Alan Whittemore, and Drew Larson) is part of a consortium of 18 institutions who have been awarded a Community Science Program award from the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI). The project will fund high-quality, annotated reference genomes for 16 oak species of the eastern U.S., as well as whole genome resequencing data for 700 trees representing rangewide samples of each of the 16 species and three experimental plantings of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and eastern white oak (Q. alba). This work complements and is partly supported by an NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity award to the Arboretum that investigates genome variation in bur oak (Q. macrocarpa) and relatives. Overall, the funded project will help the consortium and other researchers in the community to address two key questions: (1) How has the sharing of genes among oaks species with different environmental adaptations contributed to the ability of oaks to adapt to past climate changes? and (2) what can we learn about hybridization among oaks to assist in conserving and improving their important roles in climate resiliency and bio-based products? Ultimately, this work contributes to our broader understanding of what genes and genome segments define oak species and how oak species remain distinct despite hybridization. These questions are key to conservation and management of oaks and oak forests.