eDNA Workshop and Symposium

Exploring challenges and opportunities across diverse applications.

 
 

Symposium Highlights

  • Hear talks from eDNA experts across a wide range of sectors.

  • Engage in conversations about using eDNA for a wide range of applications.

  • Present your work through a concurrent poster session for students and postdocs.

  • Registration, meals, and refreshments are free, but registration is required (see below).

Please join us on March 25, 2023 for a one-day symposium exploring the challenges and opportunities of environmental DNA (eDNA) for a variety of bioassessment applications, ranging from endangered and threatened species detection, to diet assessment, to food web modeling. The symposium will take place at the University of North Texas in the Environmental Education Science and Technology (EESAT) building (map here) from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday (March 25), and there will be a receiption on Friday at 6:00 p.m. (March 24th) in EESAT for guests who arrive the night before the symposium. Plenary speakers will participate in a workshop on Friday to explore development of guidelines, standard operating procedures, and best practices when using eDNA across a range of applications, and ultimately develop a paper outlining core challenges and opportunities of eDNA applications in our region.  Preliminary outcomes from the workshop will be shared at the symposium and contribute to the panel discussion.

 

Symposium Details 

01. Plenary Speakers

Plenary speakers include eDNA experts from a range of sectors who use eDNA for a variety of applications. These speakers will be part of a working group that will explore challenges and opportunities across a range of eDNA applications. Below is a list of confirmed speakers:

  • Donald Baird, PhD (Environment and Climate Change Canada / University of New Brunswick)

  • Matt Barnes, PhD (Texas Tech University)

  • Kevin Conway, PhD (Texas A&M University)

  • Chetan Gaonkar, PhD (Texas A&M University)

  • Mandi Gordon, MSc (University of Houston - Clear Lake)

  • Drew Davis, PhD (Eastern New Mexico State University)

  • Jon Amberg, PhD (United States Geological Survey)

  • Pedro Brandão-Dias Ferreira Pinto (Rice University)

  • Nick Schulte, PhD (Jonah Ventures)

  • Sara Oyler-McCance, PhD (USGS)

  • Zacchaeus Compson, PhD (University of North Texas)

 

02. Schedule

Below is a tentative schedule of the eDNA Symposium:

Friday, March 24:

6:00 p.m.: Welcome reception.

Saturday, March 25:

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. (sign-in and refreshments)

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. (plenary talks)

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (coffee break)

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (plenary talks)

12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (catered lunch and poster session)

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (plenary talks)

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (coffee break)

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (roundtable discussion)

4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (closing comments)

5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (catered dinner and poster session)

 

03. accommodations

Meals and refreshements will be provided to all participants. We are not reserving a block of hotels, but we can make local recommendations for places to stay. Some good local options include Best Western Plus Denton Inn & Suites (map here), Best Western Premier Crown Chase Inn and Suites (map here), Hilton Garden Inn (map here), and Courtyard by Marriott (map here). AirBnB is another option for those who are interested in renting a room or house close to UNT’s main campus (details here). Students wishing to share accommodations will be given the opportunity to choose an option in the registration form (see below) indicating they would be interested in connecting with other students to arrange shared accomodations; we will then connect these students via email so that they can self-organize.

 

04. Registration

Thanks to financial support from the Texas Comptroller Office and a generous donation from the UNT College of Science, the eDNA Workshop is free for all to attend. However, registration is required for planning purposes. Registration will close at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on Monday, March 20th, 2023.