News - Marine Biosecurity Toolbox

Prioritising surveillance sites for exotic Caulerpa in Northland

06/09/2023

Due to the recent exotic Caulerpa incursions along the coast of Northland, Northland Regional Council engaged scientists from the Marine Biosecurity Toolbox research programme to assist them with prioritizing locations for surveillance and readiness activities. The Manage&Respond team applied their prototype maritime pathway network model to predict critical risk locations.

Marine Biosecurity Toolbox equips Curious Minds project to ignite students’ interest in marine conservation

29/06/2023

Collaboration with the Sails for Science NZ outreach program, engaging year 10 students in student-led detection of invasive species in the marine environment using molecular surveillance.

Pest Alert Tool—a web-based application for flagging species of concern in metabarcoding datasets

06/06/2023

A new online tool called the Pest Alert Tool has been developed to screen high-throughput sequencing datasets for species of concern, providing a valuable resource for biodiversity management.

Scientists empower Nayland College students with hands-on marine biosecurity activities

28/05/2023

Scientists conducted a hands-on educational event at Nayland College, engaging hundreds of Year 9 students in activities related to marine biosecurity. The event aimed to inspire the students, build scientific literacy, and create pathways for future scientists.

Harnessing decay rates for coastal marine biosecurity applications: A review of environmental DNA and RNA fate

15/04/2023

A review on the degradation mechanisms and fate of environmental nucleic acids (eNAs) in the marine environment, providing guidelines for accurate decay rates and emphasizing their importance in building effective marine biosecurity tools for target detection and biodiversity assessment.

Environmental DNA tools embark on BLAKE expedition to the Subantarctic

01/03/2023

Marine Biosecurity Toolbox scientist Dr Ulla von Ammon joined the BLAKE Expedition and shared with the expedition team the eDNA tools, including the newly designed Cruising Speed Net, for detecting unwanted organisms in marine environments.

New best-practice guidelines for environmental DNA testing in Australia and New Zealand aim to enhance quality assurance and decision-making

10/02/2023

Newly introduced best-practice guidelines for environmental DNA (eDNA) testing in Australia and New Zealand provide standardized methods and quality assurance measures to support pest detection, biodiversity monitoring, and species identification.

Celebrating success – for the third time!

10/11/2022

Catch up on the research highlights from our third programme year, which we just collectively celebrated at Patuharakeke Iwi's Takahiwai Marae in Northland!

Harnessing passive sampling and DNA extraction innovations for eDNA-based surveillance

10/09/2022

A recent study explored new methods for marine surveillance using eDNA. The researchers compared traditional filtration methods with passive sampling and self-contained DNA extraction. Passive sampling using materials like artificial sponges and fishing nets showed similar results to active filtration in detecting fish diversity. The study suggests that passive sampling is a promising approach for eDNA monitoring and contribute to improving non-invasive monitoring techniques for marine environments.

Nature inspired marine antifouling solutions

18/07/2022

Watch the video voiced by doctoral candidate Joe Rawlinson, which describes the problem of marine biofouling, existing control options, and nature-inspired antifouling solutions.

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