Nicholas Iacaruso

I am firstly, a conservation geneticist. I really enjoy using eDNA and other genomics tools (e.g. eRNA, Rad-Seq) to improve conservation. While I'm interested in working on a variety of taxa in a variety of environments, I've always had a passion for aquatic species, especially marine fish and mammals.

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Within the field of eDNA, I have two main interests. The first is the spatio-temporal variability of the eDNA signal. eDNA is not like traditional survey methods: the amount produces changes daily, it can last in the environment for a long time, and it can be transported several kilometers from where it originated. I'm particularly interested in understanding the signal of eDNA and designing sampling schemes that can pinpoint where and when a species may have occurred in order to produce the eDNA signal.

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My second interest lies in connecting eDNA detections to management actions. Since the presence of eDNA does not always indicate the presence of the target species, it is crucial to provide clear confidence levels and guidance of how likely we anticipate a species to be present given a set of eDNA detections/absences. I've been working with government agencies to provide recommendations (e.g. communication workflow plans, decision tres) that can help guide agencies and determine what the next management steps should be after eDNA sampling.