Caren Goldberg, an ecologist at Washington State University, is knee-deep in the cutting-edge field of environmental DNA, or eDNA. This modern approach to surveying species in freshwater environments takes advantage of the fact that animals leave DNA—from sloughed off skin, feces, or urine—behind in the water. Researchers simply take water samples and then analyze them for eDNA to determine which species are present.
“It has a high power to detect which species are there,” says Goldberg. And the benefits over traditional surveying methods, which can involve extensive field analyses and disturbed habitat, are substantial. “With this approach, you aren’t turning over rocks, or kicking up mud, or searching for well-camouflaged or incredibly rare individual animals. You’re simply taking water samples.”