59. FishTracker: The Kids Are On The Case

FishTracker is a student-oriented citizen science project based at Cornell University that records and maps the presence of several species of fish, both endangered and invasive, in New York State. What is awesome about this program is that K-12 students and teachers from New York collect environmental DNA (eDNA) from water samples and send these samples to Cornell for analysis. FishTracker team members then use quantitative PCR to analyze these samples and incorporate their findings into a fish species database and send their results back to the classrooms. This is an incredible program so tune in to learn more and be amazed at ways you can involve young children into important scientific endeavors. Want to get involved, check out their website: https://fishtracker.vet.cornell.edu/. 

Thank you to the Cornell University Serve in Place Fund for supporting this episode.