James Garner

My interests center refining, streamlining, and developing accessible and equitable use-inspired biodiversity and fisheries abundance monitoring tools that utilize environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques and technology. I am working with a diverse array of project partners and stakeholders to address questions related to; 1) shifts in aquatic community composition in response to restoration and climate adaptation actions, 2) calibrating eDNA techniques to standardized fisheries abundance estimation metrics to provide low cost alternatives to fisheries managers, 3) utilizing eDNA techniques to track population level signals in American Shad, and 4) evaluating a turn-key, field deployable biodiversity monitoring system that offers a more affordable and equitable alternative to traditional monitoring approaches. The data collected from this research can be directly applied towards understanding how aquatic communities and diadromous fishes respond to management, climate change (phenological and range shifts) and human adaptations to climate change (restoration actions).

A Pilot Biodiversity Inventory and Monitoring Protocol in Support of Coastal Adaptation Projects in Tidal and Nearshore Subtidal Habitats of Boston Harbor Islands