Nicholas Iacaruso
PhD Candidate
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Natural History Survey
I’m a PhD Candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in their Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. My research focuses on the use of genetics-based tools to improve conservation and management. I am particularly interested in how we can use environmental DNA, or eDNA to manage for aquatic invasive species and rare/threatened/endangered species.
Research Interests
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.
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.
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.
Iacaruso, N. J., Reves, O. P., Merkelz, S. J., Waldrep, C. L., & Davis, M. A. (2025). A systematic review evaluating the performance of eDNA methods relative to conventional methods for biodiversity monitoring. Ecography, e07952. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.07952
Butler, S. E., Iacaruso, N. J., Davis, M. A., Woiak, Z., & Parkos III, J. J. (2025). Assessing the efficacy of a quantitative PCR screening procedure for detecting and quantifying the magnitude of invasive carp reproductive events. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, vqaf066. https://doi.org/10.1093/najfmt/vqaf066