The Sea of Change Foundation has announced funding for a new project to develop eDNA Reef Health Tools.
The project is the work of the University of South Florida’s Department of Integrative Biology and aims to develop a reef health assessment tool using environmental DNA (eDNA). The project aims to work on both restored and degraded coral reefs.
The research is the work of Matt Gamache, a Ph.D. candidate at the USF-Parkinson Lab of Coral Symbiosis Research, who commented on the work so far:
“Our research results, so far, are encouraging as they support our ability to set quantifiable baselines for healthy and degraded reefs from which restored reef health can be assessed.”
While Sea of Change Foundation Executive Director Samantha Whitcraft stated:
“Indeed, tools that can help determine optimal coral populations and locations for restoration success will be vital for successful, large-scale coral conservation in the coming decades, so this work is very encouraging.”
