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The project aimed to identify traits that could assist lavender farmers to improve yield and quality of the resulting essential oils thereby strengthening the industry in the province.  Lavender is one of the most important essential oil crops in the world – part of a multimillion dollar industry for cosmetic, pharmaceutical and alternative medicine applications. The discovery of genes that control production, secretion and storage of these essential oils is important for development of improved plants through traditional breeding programs and plant biotechnology. The team at the University of British Columbia Okanagan was successful in identifying potential genes involved in regulating essential oil production in lavender that, with further study and development, could lead to  better breeding programs for the lavender industry.