From Classroom to Harbor: Field Ecology Students Dive Into eDNA Research
by V. Heisser |
Today, our Field Ecology students visited the new Valdez boat harbor to continue an
environmental DNA (eDNA) research project originally developed with Dr. Jessica R.
Glass from UAF. The project was first launched by alumna Sidney Yazzie in partnership
with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and our students are now carrying it forward.
They collected water samples, retrieved PESCA traps and filters, and photographed
biofouling plates that had been underwater since May—all of which will be sent to
UAF for analysis.
It was a rewarding day of hands-on science. As one student put it, the experience
went far beyond what she expected.