Educators! Come learn about environmental DNA techniques, how they are used and how your students can analyze eDNA data in the classroom.
About this event
In this online workshop, teachers will learn about environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques, how they are used and how your students can analyze eDNA data in the classroom.
At its simplest, eDNA is DNA recovered directly from environmental samples, rather than tissue: for example, we can take samples of estuary sediment, the guts of marine animals, or seawater, and sequence the DNA that organisms have left behind. This novel technique can be used to identify which species are (or were recently) present in an environment, even if we don't observe those species directly. These techniques can be especially useful for detecting rare or cryptic species, as well as non-native species.
This 1.5-hour workshop will demonstrate the methods used to extract and sequence DNA from water, and how to analyze the resulting data using free software, to determine what species are found in specific marine/estuarine ecosystems around NYC. CTLE credits are available for teachers!
CTLE Credits
CTLE credits are provided through Pace University School of Education in support of its National Science Foundation research grants (DRL 1839656/DRL 1759006) sub-awards (CD00007433/CD00006463) to the Billion Oyster Project (Dr. Lauren Birney, Principal Investigator lbirney@pace.edu).
Please email all inquiries (including questions about training logistics, registration, CTLE credits) to educate@nyharbor.org.
Thanks to the Billion Oyster Project partners and funders: New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Members Paul Vallone, Costa Constantinides, Joseph C. Borelli and Pace University, the National Science Foundation, and the New York City Department of Education.
"This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF grant number EHR 1759006/1839656/PI Lauren Birney. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."
