MBMG Recognises Outstanding Research at 2025 eDNA Conference in Wellington

05 March 2025

The 2nd Australian & New Zealand eDNA Conference, held in Wellington, New Zealand, brought together leading researchers and professionals from around the globe to discuss the latest advancements in environmental DNA (eDNA) research. Organised by the Southern eDNA Society, the event welcomed 321 attendees from 25 countries.

As a proud supporter of innovation and excellence in molecular biodiversity studies, Metabarcoding and Metagenomics (MBMG), along with its publisher Pensoft, recognised exceptional contributions through a series of awards.

MBMG Award Winners

Presentation Awards

1st Place: Danielle Bartz – Testing the Waters: An Interdisciplinary Assessment of Current and Historical Shark Nursery Habitat in Hilo Bay, Hawai'i

Prize: $250 + Free MBMG publication

2nd Place: Jia Jin Marc Chang – Long-range PCR and nanopore long-read sequencing for generating mitogenomes for reference databases

Prize: $150 + MBMG book

3rd Place: Joseph Perkins – Toxic traces: DNA metabarcoding detects ciguatoxin-producing dinoflagellates along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Prize: $100 + MBMG book

Best Lightning Talk

1st Place: Gracie Kroos – Where's Wallaby? Using environmental DNA to detect mobile, elusive terrestrial pest species

Prize: $250 + Free MBMG publication

Best Poster Award

1st Place: Aimee Van Der Reis – Investigating seed bank potential of crustose coralline algae

Prize: $250 + Free MBMG publication

MBMG and Pensoft extend their congratulations to all winners for their outstanding contributions to the field.