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Environmental DNA in the Classroom: Home

Environmental DNA in the Classroom: A Case Study

Jimena Golcher-Benavides, Visiting Assistant Professor, Lees-McRae College

Intended Audience: Teachers who want to create collaborative projects to  both address conservation issues and improve learning.

OVERVIEW

Environmental DNA in the classroom is a research project that exploits the potential of a novel cost-effective tool in genetics for teaching and learning in an experiential learning context. Technology to study environmental DNA (eDNA) has rapidly developed and is now used to tackle issues ranging from monitoring disease spread, to finding new ways to implement wildlife management for conservation. Thus, undergraduate students enrolled in a  biology class  today have a considerable potential to apply biological knowledge to address societal challenges involving biodiversity conservation with eDNA technology.

KEY ELEMENTS

Environmental DNA in the  classroom is a project that provides students with hands-on learning opportunities through the following activities:

  • Connecting learned content across disciplines:  genetics and conservation biology.
  • Consulting with an expert in conservation genetics to design a research project that meets local needs.
  • Generate knowledge of value for wildlife management and conservation working in a team.

CASE STUDY – A Near Threatened species 

We consulted a local conservation practitioner about a species that is vulnerable to becoming endangered in the near future and is on the radar for conservation initiatives in the Southern Appalachians: the hellbender or hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). Hellbender populations have rapidly declined throughout their native range over ~20 years. (Wheeler et al. 2003). Many previously documented hellbender populations are now believed to be extirpated in the Southern Appalachians (Wineland et al. 2021).  eDNA is increasingly being used to survey  aquatic species  in efforts combining community science and civic engagement (Hupało et al. 2020). We wanted to implement a similar low-cost strategy in the classroom to investigate the status of hellbender populations in sites at a short driving distance from the college Campus.  In groups of four, the students discussed the relevant literature and identified how hellbender population  monitoring with eDNA is done with guidance from experts. eDNA was then collected from 1-L water samples and extracted from cellulose nitrate filters in the laboratory following standardized protocols (Laramie et al. 2015), with each student group as responsible for one positive, negative and a field control associated to a single location near Campus. The students then got exposed to the standard laboratory protocol:  quantitative PCR,  a technique commonly taught in molecular biology, cellular biology and genetics-related undergraduate level courses..

Challenges & Successes

A challenge involved with this experience is that existing primer sequences required for the low-cost quantitative PCR protocol are not available for all species of conservation concern. Such a challenge can be overcomed by focusing on a species for which these have already been developed (i.e. hellbenders: Spear et al. 2015), or alternatively, add a project-component  on primer design (van Seters et al. 2011).  By focusing on an already studied species, we could benefit from the knowledge and assistance of a team of experts working on eDNA monitoring of hellbenders. To our knowledge, our students enrolled in the Spring 2022  BIO361 Genetics course at Lees McRae College were the first to detect hellbenders using eDNA at two sites in Watauga County, North Carolina: 1) Watauga River in Foscoe and 2) Watauga River in Valle Crucis Community Park. Students did not detect eDNA from hellbenders in the samples from Elk River at Lees McRae College’s Elk Valley Preserve or Elk Falls in Avery County, North Carolina. The students wrote final reports with the analyses across all sites and the information was shared with managers studying hellbender eDNA in the Southern Appalachian region.

Potential For Reproducibility

An ACA educator could apply the learnings from this study case to replicate this experience through incorporating a research project using eDNA in a genetics or related biology course.  The basic infrastructure required for this project is a molecular biology or chemistry lab, access to laboratory reagents and other consumables associated with the quantitative PCR technique, as well as safe access to nearby bodies of water. The added strength of this project is that it can engage students in all  steps of experiential learning: concrete experience, active experimentation, reflective observation, idea development, as well as newly added components of collaboration and  lifelong learning (Walker and Rocconi 2021).

 

 

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