Metabarcoding & Metagenomics and Pensoft support rising talent at the 9th International Barcode of Life Conference
Metabarcoding & Metagenomics and Pensoft were proud to support the 9th International Barcode of Life (iBOL) conference, which took place from September 3rd to 6th in Belém, Brazil. Hosted by the International Barcode of Life consortium in collaboration with the Vale Institute of Technology, the iBOL conference was a key event to discuss developments in barcoding and DNA-based biodiversity data.
Under the theme “Amazon homecoming: connecting people, barcodes, and biodiversity,” the conference featured a diverse program, including a keynote speech from Chief Executive Officer of the International Barcode of Life consortium and Chair of the advisory board of MBMG, Paul Hebert.
MBMG sponsored a Best Early Career Researcher Talk award, granting a free publication to winner Ethan Ross for his talk about applications of Oxford Nanopore Flongles for quickly generating reference libraries and how he used them for metabarcoding of passively collected eDNA. See his post on X about the event.
Asked about his publication plans, he said: "I expect my MBMG publication to encompass my work assessing the suitability of eDNA metabarcoding for monitoring marine species on temperate seagrass beds. Seagrass beds are biodiversity hotspots and provide a range of important ecosystem services such as blue carbon storage.
"I believe understanding how eDNA tools can be used to routinely assess the community composition (focus on macrofauna) of these habitats will greatly contribute to the protection and restoration of seagrasses globally."
The next iBOL conference will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2026.