Conference Presentations & Workshops

Regional

• “Evaluating the effects of offshore wind development on fisheries biodiversity using environmental DNA and acoustic telemetry” presented by Tim O’Donnell at the New England Fisheries Management Council meeting in Portsmouth, NH, January 29^th

• “Novel genetic tools for toxic Pseudo-nitzschia detection – recent activities and updates” presented by Matt Harke at the Gulf of Maine Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium in Portsmouth, NH, March 11^th

• “Transcriptomic response of sea urchin coelomocytes to UV-B induced DNA damage” presented by Riss Kell at the Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and Other Marine Invertebrates Conference in Woods Hole, MA, April 2-4

• “Environmental DNA as a biodiversity monitoring tool for offshore wind development” presented by Tim O’Donnell at the MTS TechSurge Meeting: Fisheries and Benthic Monitoring meeting at URI’s Bay Campus in Narragansett RI, Oct 7-9

• “Beyond the Visual: Unlocking the Full Biodiversity of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary with eDNA” presented by Matt Harke at the 10^th Annual GMGI Science Forum, Oct 23^rd.

• “Genomic population structure of American lobster in U.S. waters for stock delineation” presented by Nicole Cubba at the North American Lobster Science Symposium in Orono, ME, Nov 5-6

National

• “Building an ‘epigenetic clock’: Utilizing DNA methylation to predict age in Haddock” presented by Emma Strand at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego, January 10-15

• “A framework for integrating multi-omics data for biomarker discovery to improve resilience in aquaculture” presented by Shelly Wanamaker at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference. San Diego, January 10-15

• “Mining omics datasets for resilience biomarkers to improve oyster breeding and management strategies” presented by Shelly Wanamaker at the Aquaculture Triennial conference in New Orleans, March 7^th

International

• “Building an ‘epigenetic clock’: Utilizing DNA methylation to predict age in Haddock” presented by Emma Strand at the Epigenetics in Marine and Aquatic Research conference in Barcelona, Spain, May 27

• “Endosymbiont communities and DNA methylation patterns drive phenotypic differences in the reef-building coral, Montipora capitata” presented by Emma Strand at the Epigenetics in Marine and Aquatic Research conference in Barcelona, Spain, May 27

• “Genomic signatures of exceptional longevity and negligible aging in sea urchins” presented by Andrea Bodnar at the International Cell Biology Symposium at the University of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, June 6^th

Community Outreach

• Six Skype a Scientist sessions with Emma Strand: Chesterfield Career and Technical Center, Midlothian, Virginia; Edinburgh Middle School in Edinburgh, Indiana; Malta High School in Malta, Montana; Rideau Park School in Edmonton, Canada; Cascade Ridge Elementary School in Sammamish, Washington; Colfax Charter Elementary in Los Angeles, California

• Emma Strand was a guest speaker at “Let’s Talk Comp Bio” 2025 event for Carnegie Mellon University graduate students in the Ray and Stephanie Lane Department of Computational Biology, Jan 21^st

• Jennifer Polinski presented a public lecture “Sequencing the Sea: How environmental DNA can reveal an ecosystem’s hidden biodiversity” for the Salem Sound Coastwatch Lecture Series, Feb 19^th

• GMGI’s Science by the Sea lecture “Methuselah’s Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Healthier Lives” presented by Dr. Steven Austad (University of Alabama Birmingham) at Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport MA, June 3^rd

• Andrea Bodnar presented a lecture “Marine Genomics: Discoveries from Gloucester’s Waterfront” at that Sandy Bay Yacht Club, Rockport, MA July 10^th

• GMGI hosted the “Girls on Adventure” program of the Schooner Adventure as part of the Generation Girls Program supported by Applied Materials Foundation, July 25^th

• GMGI’s Annual Byrnes Lecture “Rockfish to Resiliency: Marine Genomic Insights for Oceans & Human Health”, presented by GMGI Scientists Dr. Stephen Treaster and Dr. Emma Strand at the Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester MA, October 9^th

Invited seminars at other institutions

• Emma presented a talk to the eDNA Collaborative at the University of Washington “Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute’s Environmental DNA (eDNA) Research”, January

• Andrea presented the Annual Eminent Biologist Seminar for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University “The Ocean’s Methuselahs: Genomic signatures of exceptional longevity and negligible aging in sea urchins”, March

• Andrea gave a seminar for the University of New Hampshire’s Marine docent program “Sea Urchins and the Secret to a Long and Healthy Life”, April

• Tim presented a talk: “Using eDNA to Support Fisheries and Biodiversity Monitoring on Stellwagen Bank and Beyond” to the Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association at the Cask ‘N Flagon in Marshfield, MA, April

• Tim presents a talk at Salem State Earth Days: “Using eDNA to Support Fisheries Assessment and Conservation in Massachusetts”, April

• Andrea was a visiting faculty at the University of Washinton’s Friday Harbor Laboratories “Maintaining function and plasticity in the aging nervous system: Insight from the red sea urchin”, April – May

• Andrea presented a talk at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute “Genomic signatures of exceptional longevity and negligible aging in sea urchins”, May

• Emma presented a seminar at NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA to share epigenetics, eDNA, and GMGI growth updates, September

• Andrea presented a seminar for the NSF IISAGE program (Integration Initiative: Sex, Aging, Genomics & Evolution) “Genomic signatures of exceptional longevity and negligible aging in sea urchins”, November

• Andrea presents a virtual seminar for the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Alberta “The Ocean’s Methuselahs – Genomic signatures of exceptional longevity and negligible aging in sea urchins”, Decemeber