2026-06-25 –, Prime Dome
Every organism around you is shedding DNA right now. Into the water, into the air, everywhere. We built a system that captures it, sequences it on a device the size of a USB stick, and identifies species live on screen. No lab. No internet. No waiting. At ToorCamp, we are pointing it at Doe Bay. Water goes in, and minutes later you are watching whales, sharks, fish, and birds appear on a dashboard as their DNA gets read in real time. We have run this on research ships, coral reefs, and in rainforest canopies. This time, you get to watch it happen. Come see what’s lurking around you.
Scientists from the University of Washington's eDNA Collaborative work to move environmental DNA analysis out of the lab and into the field. Here, we are working to do this without a lab and without a net. There are lots of interesting engineering and computational problems to be solved, and we welcome all suggestions (or any help!) as we work to crack this field wide open and show everyone that they are surrounded by an ocean of DNA.
Trained as both an ecologist and a lawyer, Ryan Kelly has a broad set of interests, focused both on hard scientific data and policymakers’ use of those data. Ryan joins genetic and ecological research with real-world implementation in law and policy, particularly with respect to environmental monitoring and resource management. He is the Director of the eDNA Collaborative and Associate Director of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs within the University of Washington’s College of the Environment.
Aden Ip is a field scientist at the University of Washington who builds portable DNA sequencing platforms for real-time biodiversity monitoring. He has sequenced and identified species live on research vessels, coral reefs, and in rainforest canopies, and was an XPRIZE Rainforest award winner.