I study marine eDNA: the process of taking water samples, sequencing the bits of marine organism DNA they contain, and using that data to enable communities to understand marine biodiversity. While most researchers focus on the scientific elements of eDNA—how can we best collect, sequence, and interpret eDNA data—and I too aim to develop better tools for using eDNA to understand biodiversity changes, I am also interested in the human implications of this big-data approach to understanding marine ecosystems. How do scientists, policymakers, and the public think about eDNA results, and how can they be involved in the process? How does eDNA data complement or overshadow other forms of knowledge about the ocean? Does this detached tool—divorced for the visual methods typical in biodiversity monitoring—change how we understand, value, and aspire to protect marine environments?

My work, at the intersection of biological oceanography and science & technology studies, aims to combat the techno-optimism inherent to much eDNA research—if we build a better tool, we’ll increase ocean knowledge, and therefore conservation—by centering the human context that eDNA operates within. Thus, I want my work to be driven by the perspectives of people that might benefit from, or be affected by, the advancement of eDNA monitoring. And I want my research to demonstrate what community-based eDNA monitoring can look like: from using focus groups to inform eDNA projects to facilitating community science eDNA collection to making eDNA analysis more accessible.