Advances in high-throughput molecular sequencing have developed new, alternative biodiversity monitoring approaches that rely on environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material released by organisms into their ambient environment (such as soil, water, or air). While historically used to investigate microbial communities, eDNA methodologies have rapidly developed over the past two decades for assessing a broad range of taxa, including animals, invertebrates, plants, and fungi. Biomonitoring using eDNA can determine species presence by sampling the environment, minimizing both environmental disturbance and time spent sampling while producing data that may be more taxonomically comprehensive, less dependent on the availability of local taxonomists, and auditable by third parties. This lightning talk will briefly introduce eDNA methods used in wetland science.
 

Autumn Sylvestri is a graduate student at The Ohio State University specializing in ecological engineering and ecological restoration. An NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Sylvestri integrates both engineering and life science in her research and aspires to become a professional engineer and ecologist. She graduated from North Carolina State University in 2024 with a B.S. in Biological Engineering and a B.S. in Plant Biology, as well as minors in Entomology and Microbiology. In her current research, Sylvestri extracts eDNA from restored Ohio wetlands to gauge the effectiveness of eDNA in assessing post-restoration biodiversity.