Davíð Gíslason, Project Manager at Matís, and Marjolijn Rika Nijzigh, PhD student, attended PISCeS Conference, held at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada in June. The main focus areas of this year's PISCeS conference were regulations and standards, new technology in environmental genomics, sampling designs and eDNA analysis in various environments.
At the conference, Marjolijn Rika Nijzigh presented her PhD work within the BioProtect project. The presentation was titled "Implementation of environmental DNA into marine conservation practices: From monitoring biodiversity to systematic conservation planning." She discussed how eDNA can support marine conservation by shifting the focus from species identification and biodiversity monitoring towards more targeted, data-driven conservation planning.
Davíð Gíslason presented the poster: "Implementation of environmental DNA (eDNA) for biodiversity mapping, monitoring and invasive species detection." It demonstrated how eDNA can serve as a powerful tool for gaining a better understanding of marine ecosystems, supporting biodiversity mapping and improving early detection of invasive species.
Matís leads the European project BioProtect which aims to develop methodologies and technical solutions to facilitate decision-making on the utilisation or conservation of marine areas.
Matís also leads the VS-eDNA project, funded by the Ministry of Industries, which focuses on marine biodiversity in the waters surrounding Iceland.