For the last 1,5 years, I have been representing the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG), where I am a postdoc, in the US Environmental Protection Agency funded Great Lakes DNA barcoding project. This project has brought together several taxonomic experts across the US and Canada and supported through collaborations with molecular ecologists and aquatic biologists from the EPA and universities including Cornell University, Buffalo State College, University of Notre Dame, Central Michigan University and the CBG at the University of Guelph.

Just before the pandemic hit North America, we had a chance to gather at the beautiful Biological Field Station of Cornell University in upstate New York. It was amazing to finally meet our collaborators in person. It was also fun to give training on genetic data analysis to such a diverse group. It was even better that my mom joined me for this trip from Guelph, Canada to Upstate New York, US.

I enjoy working in these kind of collaborative projects, and it has been definitely a rewarding experience to coordinate the Canadian side of this project. I will update my blog with publications from this collaboration, stay tuned!