Thanks to Ms. Palmer, we have a rare opportunity to work with the University of Maine to sample local waters and the genetic material left behind in the water from organisms living there, to learn what species may be present.  

We “zoomed” with UMaine PhD candidate Sharon Mann who shared a presentation about the “Maine-eDNA” program (‘eDNA’ referring to environmental DNA), a cooperative state-wide initiative that applies genetic technology as an information tool for resource managers. These state managers may be working to protect threatened or endangered species, like the sturgeon or Arctic char, or to fight invasive species in freshwater ponds/lakes that disrupt the local ecosystem. Sharon Mann’s own research involves learning about the water quality impacts of alewife restoration in freshwater systems.  The program represents a way to survey the frequency of organisms in their environment with minimal effort and without stressing or harming them.

During the presentation we learned that an organism’s genetic material is constantly shed in the process of living and dying.  It can be collected from water, land, or air, and the genetic material within the sample can be a whole microbe or algae in water, for example, or cells that are shed as reproductive cells, body cells, wastes or during the decay process.

We’ll be going “afield” in early April to collect a couple water samples that the University will process and later return results that will tell us the frequency of various vertebrate species are present in our sampling habitat.   It will be a good class discussion beforehand to frame a question that this applied genetics testing can potentially answer…and help us determine where to sample.  

What a great opportunity to see how genetics can be applied to our environmental studies!  Thank you to the University of Maine and to Ms. Palmer!