As part of the USDA HATCH-funded project, "Students Engaging the Environment: A Student and Scientist Collaboration to Assess Aquatic Invasive Species," teachers, students, and Cornell scientists are working together to collect and test water samples from waterways throughout New York state for the presence of cells from invasive fish species.
This short video demonstrates the simple water filtration method students use to collect shed cells and environmental DNA (eDNA) from local lakes, rivers, and streams around New York state.
A brief introduction to the quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis that is carried out on the collected samples by the Cornell University Aquatic Health Program is also presented.