Details

Speaker:
Dr. Dominique A. Cowart, University of Illinois, USA

To mitigate losses to aquatic biodiversity resulting from human activities, conservation initiatives rely upon accurate surveys of biological communities as indicators of ecosystem health. My research uses environmental DNA (eDNA) retrieved from marine (seagrass sediment and polar seawater) and freshwater (temperate lakes and streams) to assess overall biodiversity and uncover endangered and invasive species. The continued development and use of these tools, combined with conventional surveys, will provide comprehensive inventories of vulnerable ecosystems worldwide.