Marine eDNA Dude
@marinednadude.bsky.social
Zack Gold - Ocean Molecular Ecology lab | co-lead of West Coast OBON |eDNA + marine conservation + oceanography | nature photography. Thoughts and rants are my own 🧬🐟🦐🌊 🧪zackgold.org
Sunflower stars, despite being the biggest sea star on earth, are not super #eDNA shedders Echinoderms appear to shed orders of magnitude less DNA Interestingly UV doesn’t seem to have a strong effect on DNA shedding rates But stress/behavior seems to matter a lot doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org
OOF. "the conservation status of 88.5% of described insect and arachnid species in North America is unknown...Of US insects and arachnids known to be at-risk throughout their range, 94.7% are not protected by any state or federal law" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Data deficiency, taxonomic bias, and economic interests curtail insect and arachnid conservation in the United States | PNAS
Earth is experiencing a biodiversity crisis. Among the declining taxa are insects and arachnids, which account for most of the world’s animal speci...
pnas.org
apply.interfolio.com/194149 UW CICOES Postdoc applications for 2027 are open. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in pursuing applied #eDNA work
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In the last couple of years, we've seen multiple critical collections (museums, herbaria) close. The IUCN--the global authority on the status of biodiversity--recently published on how important these kinds of facilities are in conservation. Every day, the dead are working to protect the living.
From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums
The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation: a formal acknowledgement that natural history museums,...
iucn.org
Most vertebrate diversity can be found in only a handful of #eDNA samples. Fun to see this preprint out from our work with community scientists to characterize backyard biodiversity in some local SoCal MPAs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Using Community Science and eDNA to Inform a State-Designed Marine Protected Area Monitoring Program: A Case Study from Malibu, California
Management of marine protected areas (MPAs) require long-term monitoring and evaluation that is often limited by the cost and effort of conventional visual based surveys. We evaluated a community scie...
biorxiv.org
Such sad news. The only marine science center in SF Bay has closed their doors after a 4 year struggle www.thearknewspaper.com/live/sf-stat... Incredible scientists and ground breaking science came through here, a lot of my colleagues. Just stunning in an era of such abundance in the Bay Area
The Ark | SF State's Estuary & Ocean Science Center in Tiburon will close after fight to save it falls short
San Francisco State will close its Romberg Tiburon Campus on Sept. 30, ending a four-year fight to save the only marine research center on San Francisco Bay's shores.
thearknewspaper.com
It’s actually happening! The West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise is mobilizing after 4 weeks of port delays. Excited to take these critical ocean biogeochemical measurements across North America! #oceanacidification #wcoa26 #NOAA #eDNA #zooplankton
A new job for sharks: Oceanographers improving climate forecasts 🦑🧪🐟🦈 www.wlrn.org/environment/...
A new job for sharks: Oceanographers improving climate forecasts
Researchers at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School found temperature data collected from wayfaring sharks helped improve short-term climate forecasts.
wlrn.org
Excited to contribute to this project on intertidal #eDNA monitoring, field work, and mitogenome assembly. Awesome to see Shannon Brown, our lab manager, in her element :)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · 4mo ago🐟🔬 Researchers from Scripps Oceanography & partner organizations have launched the first major effort to genetically catalog marine #biodiversity along the California coast, starting in San Diego. Learn more about the statewide project, supported by @opc-california.bsky.social ⬇️
We're hiring a genetics lab manager position at NOAA in Juneau, Alaska! The successful candidate will oversee day-to-day laboratory operations and contribute to the development of new molecular methods. Salary is $75-145k/yr. Email wes.larson@noaa.gov with questions www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewD...
Biologist (Omics)
This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Vacancies may be available in each listed location. Additional duty lo...
usajobs.gov
When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.
François Primeau, a UC Irvine professor, developed mathematical and computational ocean models that helped us understand the ocean's role in global climate. He was killed on his bike by someone driving a car. 🌊
Orange County bicyclist fatally struck by hit-and-run driver in Santa Ana
It happened at around 6:15 p.m. Friday near the intersection of Standard Avenue and Warner Avenue, Santa Ana Police Department officers said in a news release shared on social media.
cbsnews.com
A team of biologists recently counted 30 of the rare trout in Topanga Creek — plus 21 babies. “These fish continue to amaze me,” said Kyle Evans of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. My latest: www.latimes.com/environment/...
Santa Monica Mountains’ last steelhead trout survived the Palisades fire — and even had babies
Scientists feared the Santa Monica Mountains’ last endangered steelhead trout were wiped out by the Palisades fire. Then, they found them alive in Topanga Creek.
latimes.com
In just 17 years, Seattle went from not having light rail to having the most ridden system in the nation. We’ve proven how leadership & investment can change a city and people’s lives for the better
Yonah Freemark@yonahfreemark.com · 5mo agoSeattle's light rail & streetcar lines carried 4.8 million riders in April—a 44% increase above March, after Link Line 2 was extended to connect Seattle & Bellevue across Lake Washington. Seattle's light rail & streetcar lines are now the most-ridden in the nation, above LA, Boston, or San Diego.
"The students who cannot read a 20-pg article today are the voters who will not be able to read a bill or the jurors who cannot follow a closing argument, tomorrow." The most important argument against AI in education is that it's incompatible with a free society. www.chronicle.com/article/my-s...
Opinion | My Students Can’t Read
The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.
chronicle.com
Cursed connection 💀 Finally a simple commercial solution to reconstruct a gravity #eDNA sampler Wish I knew about this a decade ago! Would have saved so much finger pain… Enteral feeding bag Enfit to Luer Sterivex connection Still dreaming of a fit for purpose cheap gravity eDNA system
Excited to share our pre-print developing and validating a sunflower star eDNA assay! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
But some days when it’s grey in Seattle and the coffee doesn’t hit right it’s awfully… I just hope enough knowledge and expertise is around so that when we decide to put on our hard hats on and actually go tackle these problems instead of bury our head in the sand (or commit arson). We are ready!
Marine eDNA Dude@marinednadude.bsky.social · 6mo agoBut the fact that scientists keep on plugging away in their respective sand boxes and building amazing tools to tackle these wicked problems and get up on their soap boxes to remind everyone of things the field learned 30 years ago so we can finally tackle these problems gives me a lot of hope
But the fact that scientists keep on plugging away in their respective sand boxes and building amazing tools to tackle these wicked problems and get up on their soap boxes to remind everyone of things the field learned 30 years ago so we can finally tackle these problems gives me a lot of hope
Marine eDNA Dude@marinednadude.bsky.social · 6mo agoScientists - now equipped with epic shiny tools they built to tackle these wicked problems - are being asked by the program to justify why we should even care about the problem in the first place and whether there is enough of stakeholders and end users to even bother.
Scientists - now equipped with epic shiny tools they built to tackle these wicked problems - are being asked by the program to justify why we should even care about the problem in the first place and whether there is enough of stakeholders and end users to even bother.
Marine eDNA Dude@marinednadude.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe lack of action is palpable and now influencing scientific programs and funders as a whole. They are wondering out loud why do we bother doing good science and being an accurate thermometer if no one in power is there to do anything to turn off the oven.
The lack of action is palpable and now influencing scientific programs and funders as a whole. They are wondering out loud why do we bother doing good science and being an accurate thermometer if no one in power is there to do anything to turn off the oven.
My take aways from some recent science meetings: The scientists have never been better equipped to tackle pressing wicked environmental questions. We have amazing tools at our dispoable thanks to decades of scientific research: remote sensing to bench top instrumentation to incredible models.
Nice to see our research in Alaska and the Arctic as a part of the EcoFOCI program to understand ecosystem responses to changing sea ice and our latest quantitative eDNA work highlighted in the latest CICOES magazine cicoes.uw.edu/about/magazi...
Our paper is out, focusing on design, validation, and implementation considerations for species-targeted eRNA assays to detect presence and physiological state! Some new ideas to ponder. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Design, Validation, and Implementation Considerations for Species‐Targeted Environmental RNA Assays to Detect Presence and Physiological State
Environmental RNA (eRNA) is emerging as a promising tool for detecting species presence and physiological condition, with its broader adoption expected to benefit from continued refinement of assay d...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Excited to be going!
Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · 7mo ago🌊The ocean off California has transformed dramatically over the past decade, from marine heatwaves to harmful algal blooms to shifting ecosystems. Join us May 27–28 for the CalCOFi Conference 2026: A Decade of Remarkable Change. Register and submit an abstract here: calcofi.org/conference/c...
It’s pronounced Seattle’s Super FUNd site! *DDT and PCBs are in fact not family nor fish appropriate
Field Report: Baseline #eDNA Mapping of the Sunflower Sea Star across California Amazing work from UCLA PhD student Maddie Pacheco First detection of Pycnos south of Golden Gate Bridge in over a decade!
