The air is full of DNA — here’s what scientists are using it for Airborne genetic material can be used to paint a picture of ecosystem health, watch for invasive species and even identify humans.

I had not heard heard about this article until it appeared last night. Cool. www.nature.com/articles/d41... #eDNA #environmentalDNA #WomeninStem #academicsky 🧪

Don't forget! the PISCeS #eDNA conference is coming up. Abstracts and registration are open.
#academicsky #environmentalDNA 🧪

www.uoguelph.ca/cbs/events/2...

Contrasted effects of human pressure on biodiversity in the UK: a multi‐taxonomic assessment using airborne environmental DNA Human activities have significantly modified habitats, resulting in a global biodiversity crisis. In this study, we leveraged the first national-scale biodiversity survey based on airborne environmen...

The impacts of human activity on national #biodiversity patterns - air quality grids become biodiversity monitoring systems. Amazing work by wonderful collaborators and Post Doc Orianne Tournayre #eDNA #environmentalDNA #WomeninStem #academicsky 🧪 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

You’ve never seen bats like this YouTube video by The Nature of Things

A fantastic experience working with the CBC as they produced a documentary for "The Nature of Things" on our annual large field research trip to study #bats. Now available to stream on CBC Gem or YouTube. Tune in for "Empire of bats" #WomeninSTEM, #academicSky 🧪 youtu.be/GhWKT2gUcks?...

Tree in fall colour red

It’s the colourful time of year

Disgusting inappropriate and nonsensicle comments on my post to 🧪. Comments hidden and account blocked. Keep an eye out….

Rainbow over a building

Amazing full ark rainbow over campus today at sunrise 🧪

A Deceit of Lapwings A Deceit of Lapwings : Burrows, Steve: Amazon.ca: Books

How about some #eDNA, bird biology and a murder mystery by Steve Burrows? A book i consulted on is now out - it's got our airborne #eDNA it in (watch for the cameo...) #WomeninSTEM #AcademicSKY 🧪 here's to my true partner in crime @jlittlefair.bsky.social - our research is now a plot point 🤣

Air pollution filters help scientists produce first UK wildlife survey using eDNA Social media post led to discovery that samplers measuring toxic particles in air can also detect fragments of DNA

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Oh yeah. Let’s not even talk about that complexity!

Several of my very clever students even sent me papers called "co-evolution of sperm and egg" etc. by people who clearly dismissed the standard definition. I'm with my students on this one. Broaden the definition....

Why would we consider reciprocal compensatory mutations anything other than co-evolution. Why focus on "two species" in our definition? I've asked a number of other evolutionary biologists and I'm getting a surprising look of ... well... yeah maybe our definition in the text is out of date...

Hi 🧪 Every text defines co-evolution as "reciprocal genomic changes between two species". Clever students in my class wrote about co-evolution of interacting genes, X and Y chromosomes, mt and nuc DNA. I agree with them this is co-evolution. Why do texts say "two species"? #academicSKY #womeninSTEM

Hardcore mosquito protection for field work! #WomenInStem #AcademicSKY 🧪

Innovative Airborne DNA Approach for Monitoring Honey Bee Foraging and Health Using a novel modification of our simple hand airborne eDNA samplers this pilot study demonstrates that eDNA filtered from the air of a honey been colony has the strong potential for rapid screening ...

A new #beeDNA paper from the lab. Innovative Airborne DNA Approach for Monitoring Honey Bee Foraging and Health - Pepinelli - 2025 - Environmental DNA - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#eDNA #environmentalDNA #bee #WomenInStem #AcademicSKY 🧪

New paper from the lab onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Describes the extreme stress of the Lake Xochimilco ecosystem of Mexico. #eDNA #biodiversity #AcademicSky 🧪

First national survey of terrestrial biodiversity using airborne eDNA - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - First national survey of terrestrial biodiversity using airborne eDNA

And then we surveyed a country.....

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#biodiversity #WomenInStem #AcademicSKY 🧪

Scientists want to track the world's biodiversity using DNA in the air Scientists have found a way to sample DNA out of the air on a large scale — making it possible to one day track the health and well being of all kinds of species around the world.

www.npr.org/2025/05/22/g...

My grad student and post doc, featured on NPR

🧪 #WomenInSTEM #scisky #biosky #academicsky

Sheep frog. A small frog with a back which mimics a dead leaf.

A handsome sheep frog - looks like a good leaf mimic out in our field site.
🧪 #WomenInSTEM #scisky #biosky #academicsky

Hahaha!

Neotropical porcupine

Walking back from our field location at night we ran into this lovely neotropical porcupine

🧪 #WomenInSTEM #scisky #biosky #academicsky

Scorpion.

Field work! #WomenInSTEM #academicsky 🧪 #scisky #biosky

Scorpion under black light

Found this friend in our field lab. Sitting in someone’s N95 mask.
Stunning under black light
#WomenInSTEM #academicsky 🧪 #scisky #biosky

Fossils, Rocks and Radioactive Clocks: How to date the ancient past - BioAudio Today on the BioAudio podcast, it's all about dating! (no not that kind). Have you ever wondered how we figure out when things happened way in the past? When a scientist says "it's 100 million years o...

Ever wonder how we date ancient events (or ever need to explain it to your class?) Today on the BioAudio Podcast we're talking about dating (the ancient kind). It's Fossils, Rocks and Radioactive Clocks! #WomenInSTEM #academicsky 🧪 #scisky #biosky www.buzzsprout.com/2234324/epis...

Love it! I’ll have to use that!

Reproductive isolating barriers and modes of speciation - BioAudio In this episode of the BioAudio podcast I'm joined by Christian Nakla, a former student in my senior evolution class, someone who always had a good question for me. Now i'm flipping our roll and he's ...

All right biology students following along here... this week we are learning about isolating barriers and speciation. Start with this podcast made with a former student from my class - just like you! #academicsky #WomeninSTEM 🧪 www.buzzsprout.com/2234324/epis...

Darwin's evidence for natural selection - an Encore Presentation - BioAudio This is an encore presentation of the third episode I made of the BioAudio Podcast. I am re-posting the first three episodes form season 1 because they also set the stage for new content in Season 2. ...

Ok Students who follow me... a reminder - you should have listened to Darwin's evidence for natural selection on BioAudio for Friday. www.buzzsprout.com/2234324/epis...
#womeninSTEM #AcademicSky 🧪
And for my older listeners I have 3 new recordings I'm editing now! new content on the way.

I have one written. Waiting on a friend to record it, he’s traveling. Or would you like to help?

Charles Darwin: the making of a scientific theory - an Encore Presentation - BioAudio This is an encore presentation of the second episode I made of the BioAudio Podcast. Season 2 is an introduction of Evolution and Ecology. So before we get into new content, I am re-posting a conversa...

Ok Students in my class that are on here... You should have already listened to last week's podcast episode on the life of Darwin. Here www.buzzsprout.com/2234324/epis... #womeninstem #academicsky 🧪