LSPA Western Mass Membership Meeting 

Meeting Information
Traditional biological surveys used to characterize a site and support ecological risk assessment (e.g., netting, electrofishing, visual observation) are labor-intensive, intermittent, and prone to missing cryptic, rare, and mobile species. Environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material that organisms continuously shed into their environments, can be collected and analyzed from a single water sample to detect many aquatic species at once, including species that conventional methods overlook. This presentation will review what eDNA is, how it works, and where it may fit into practice, from biodiversity assessment and site characterization to identifying ecological receptors relevant to risk assessment under the MCP. It gives equal attention to the method's limits, including what a non-detection can and cannot demonstrate and the data-quality considerations that determine how an eDNA result can be confidently interpreted. Attendees will leave able to judge when eDNA is the right tool and read a result for what it does and does not show.

During this meeting, the presenter will:

• Explain what eDNA is and how a water sample is used to detect aquatic species relevant to biodiversity assessment, site characterization, and ecological risk assessment.
• Discuss where eDNA can complement traditional survey methods, including building species inventories and detecting rare or hard-to-find species.
• Review how to interpret an eDNA result correctly, including the difference between non-detection and absence and what a positive detection does and does not establish about location and timing.
• Recognize the data-quality and interpretation factors (e.g., detection limits, replicate sampling, and quantitative reporting) that determine how eDNA results can be evaluated for use in environmental decision-making.

This meeting is for LSPs, environmental consultants, ecological risk assessors, and MassDEP practitioners involved in site assessment, risk characterization, and environmental monitoring. The material is also relevant to practitioners working under Connecticut's remediation programs. No molecular biology background is required.

Time will be provided at the end for questions with the audience.

Schedule: 
5:30-6:00 PM: Food and Networking
6:00-6:05 PM: Welcome, and Announcements, and Speaker Introductions
6:05-6:45 PM: Presentation
6:45-7:00 PM: Questions

This presentation has been approved by the LSP Board of Registration for LSP Credit. This is a new presentation.  

Thank You to Our Western MA Membership Meeting Sponsor!