Enhancing community engagement in marine ecosystem health assessments through environmental DNA

The oceans today are under a variety of stressors including warming, acidification, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. Due to their increasing impacts on marine environments, there is a huge push for new monitoring and environmental assessment techniques to understand and mitigate change. Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to the tiny pieces of DNA shed by all living things that remain in the surrounding environment. Using specially designed molecular tests, eDNA can be detected and provide important information regarding the health of marine ecosystems. The proposed research aims to enhance community-based monitoring by applying eDNA tests to four distinct marine scenarios that each reveal a different way that eDNA can provide valuable ecosystem information. This partnership provides a novel outreach opportunity to share eDNA monitoring techniques with community members and youth so they can learn about these amazing molecular tools that can inform us on the health of the oceans.

Faculty Supervisor:

Caren Helbing

Student:

Partner:

SOI Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology; Ocean Tech; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

University of Victoria

Program: