Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly used to detect organisms, recover genetic information, and reconstruct past environments. eDNA can be collected from a wide range of environmental materials, including river water, soil, sediment, and air. eDNA approach can be closely linked to Earth-surface processes, such as river capture, which can influence the dispersal, deposition, preservation, and degradation of genetic materials. This short course will introduce the principles, methods, and applications of eDNA from a geoscience perspective, with a particular focus on riverine eDNA and paleo-eDNA preserved in sedimentary archives.

The course will have three parts. First, we will introduce the complete eDNA workflow, from designing sampling strategies and preventing contamination to laboratory protocols, bioinformatic processing, and the generation of taxonomic data. Second we will demonstrate a riverine eDNA sampling device and conduct a simple field sampling exercise during the course. We will also provide practical guidance for geoscientists who wish to use commercial sampling, laboratory, and sequencing services. Finally, we will explore geological applications of eDNA, including detecting species occurrence, recovering genetic and phylogeographic information, and using these data to infer geological processes. We will also discuss the limitations, uncertainties, and challenges associated with applying eDNA to geoscience questions.

The course is designed for scientists with no prior experience in molecular biology who are interested in exploring the use of eDNA across a broad range of geoscience applications.