UKDNA Working Group Conference 2026: Best Student Presentation Award

The recent UKDNA Working Group Conference 2026, hosted by the University of Sheffield, brought together experts from academia, government agencies, and NGOs for a three-day event focused on the latest advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) research.

Congratulations to the Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation (IBFC)'s James Macarthur, who received the Best Student Presentation Award for his research investigating the influence of seasonal environmental variation on environmental DNA (eDNA) transport distances. James has recently successfully completed his PhD, making this recognition an excellent achievement at the culmination of his doctoral research.

IBFC was also well represented throughout the conference. Dr Nathan Griffiths presented a talk entitled "Integrating freshwater invertebrate eDNA metabarcoding into statutory lake assessment in Scotland", while Professor Bernd Hänfling chaired the conference's opening session.

The UKDNA Working Group Conference was previously hosted by UHI Inverness in 2024 and continues to provide a valuable forum for researchers and practitioners to share knowledge, strengthen collaborations and showcase advances in eDNA science.