Definitely one of the reasons that I get out of bed in the morning
is because I want my research to have a real world application.
We really need to look after our environment for future generations.
Populations of freshwater species
have actually declined by 83% in the last 40 or so years.
That's only the tip of the iceberg.
So there are lots and lots of species living in this river,
which, you know, you can't see them here.
You have to go really looking for them.
And it's very, very difficult to find them.
We can't protect what we don't know about.
So we need really good methods of biodiversity monitoring.
The University of Hull was involved in environmental DNA work from the start
within the UK, I think we were one of the first universities to really start
doing any eDNA research.
So eDNA or
environmental DNA is simply DNA that we take from the environment.
We could take a simple water sample from this river and basically anything
that's living within that water body releases cells into the water column.
So by taking a water sample, we simply scooped that up
and then we would capture that DNA by filtering it.
And then once we've got the DNA on the filter,
we can then either sequence the DNA or we can use a technique called PCR,
which stands for polymerase chain reaction, which basically focuses in on
a particular piece of DNA from a species that we're really interested in.
One of the most important priorities is to focus on invasive non-native species.
So invasive species are one of the five global drivers of biodiversity change
and one of the key groups that we've been
trying to target with environmental DNA are the dreissenid mussels.
These are zebra mussels and quagga mussels that were originally from
the Pontic Caspian regions.
We work
very closely with Yorkshire Water and other water companies because they're
very concerned about these species causing damage to infrastructure.
Zebra mussels, for example, can really clog pipes, and this can cost,
for example, a half million pounds a year to clear these infestations.
They're also damaging our more natural environments as well.
So they have quite a negative ecosystem effects.
For example, they can actually smother native mussels
and because they filter so much water, they can actually have
really quite big impacts on the water quality itself as well.
We have a project
that's ongoing at the moment that's funded as part of the NERC.
That's the Natural Environment Research Council Panorama doctoral
training programme in collaboration with Yorkshire Water.
So that's a Ph.D.
project with Sara Peixoto, and she is trying to develop environmental
DNA methods for monitoring those two species, the zebra and the quagga mussel.
And it's not that environmental DNA is a replacement for established methods
as such, it’s more like it's another tool in our toolbox.
So, you know, just being armed with all these different methods
means that we can create a really,
really good picture of the biodiversity that's out there.
Not many universities really have the facilities for carrying out eDNA research.
We're very fortunate at Hull
to be able to have those facilities and to be able to access them.
And lots of our PhD students really benefit from having that facility.
I think we've got some fantastic collaborations
with stakeholders from lots and lots of different groups
the conservation sector, the public sector,
and it's a real pleasure to be able to work with them.