Science Department Site

Exciting news! On March 3rd, the Sails for Science team had an amazing opportunity to team up with Bay of Islands College for a rocky shore ecology day at the stunning Opito Bay, located just north of the Kerikeri river in the gorgeous Bay of Islands.

It was a beautiful sunny morning when we arrived early to set up as the tide went down. Stations on microplastics, marine microorganisms, marine mammal population research, and tide pool were set up along the beach and in a cove revealed by the low tide.

We were thrilled to be joined by volunteers from TriOceans, SeaCleaners, and microplastics expert Skye Nijman. The event was a great success, and students learned about coastal species and the pollution that threatens Aotearoa’s native wildlife.

This excursion was a great way for the Sails for Science team to get to know the year 10 BOIC students and science department staff ahead of the upcoming 6-week science outreach program, “Student-Led Detection of Invasive Species in Our Marine Environment via Molecular Surveillance”. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for these bright young minds!

Classroom Sessions

We’re excited to share that Sails for Science NZ kicked off its first science outreach program at the Bay of Islands College last month. Five classes of year 10 students began the program focused on the student-led detection of invasive species in our marine environment via molecular surveillance. The aim of this program is to increase science engagement in Northland colleges by sparking interest in the diverse scientific methods available to protect our marine environment. The Sails for Science team has partnered with teachers to deliver interactive lessons on ecology, biodiversity, DNA, biosecurity, and the application of molecular tools to analyze environmental DNA (eDNA).

Matua Robert Willoughby, a local hapu leader, led the students in a korero on kaitiakitanga and whakapapa and how these align to and differ from scientific interpretations, what we can learn from these concepts, and their relevance and application to marine biosecurity. One of the topics that students found particularly engaging was the discussion around the fact that New Zealand is a world hotspot for marine biodiversity. Students were impressed by the fact that New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (the sea area over which a nation has special rights to explore and gather resources) is about 15 times our land mass size, making it the fifth largest in the world. They were especially surprised to learn that the NZ EEZ has about the same known species diversity as the entire European marine area, which is almost six times larger!

With that knowledge in hand we then looked at regions where that rich biodiversity has been threatened by the presence of invasive species (including exotic caulerpa in Aotea) and talked about the need for tools that allow scientists to study the diversity and distribution of species across all of Aotearoa. Check out this terrific article from the marine biosecurity toolbox team that we used to introduce this topic! What Can DNA in the Environment Tell Us About an Ecosystem? Next up….the Sails for Science team takes these students out on environmental DNA sampling voyages…stay tuned!

Field Data Collection

During a two-week stretch of beautifully sunny weather in March, six classes from Bay of Islands College joined the Sails for Science team to explore biodiversity and detect the presence of non-indigenous/invasive species in the Bay of Islands.

Students embarked on sample collection voyages onboard the sailing vessel, Love Machine, and learned about how scientists can investigate marine ecosystems by collecting samples from the ocean and then extracting and sequencing the environmental DNA (eDNA). During the voyage, students developed experimental questions, identified sampling locations, and captured samples on a nylon filter using both a cruising speed plankton net and an innovative new sampling device developed by scientists at the Cawthron Institute, in collaboration with Sequench Ltd, called the TORPeDNA. Upon retrieving the devices, students learned how to carefully handle the samples, minimizing the chance for degradation and cross-contamination, and stored their sample on ice until the eDNA could be extracted.

While the vessel-based team was hard at work, the shore-based students documented the variety of marine life and the different types of biofouling organisms present in and around the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua and collected water samples using a GroverGo eDNA sampling pump.

During these 6 days in the field, a variety of organizations generously shared their time and expertise with students. The biosecurity team at the Northland Regional Council talked to students about marine pest detection and the NIWA team pulled up their traps while talking the students about biosecurity surveys and their careers at NIWA. Students also had the opportunity to learn about commercial diving and see one of the most significant invasive species in Northland, the Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii) being removed by the divers from the Commercial Dive Specialists while other classes learned about marina pest detection measures from the boatyard travel-lift operator.

These experiences were impactful as the students learned about invasive species and saw active efforts by people working in diverse careers contributing to protecting the incredible richness of northland marine biodiversity from invasive species. The Sails for Science team would like to thank the scientists from the Cawthron Institute and Sequench Ltd for the support with sample collection methods and to thank everyone involved for taking the time to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Next up, students will extract eDNA, run qPCR reactions, and send their eDNA away for DNA sequencing…..stay tuned!

eDNA Extraction & Invasive Species Testing in the Classroom

The next step of the Sails for Science-NZ journey with this terrific group of students from Bay of Islands College brought us into the classroom to extract the environmental DNA from our samples collected in several areas around the Bay of Islands.

Students learned how to carefully process their sample and load the DNA extraction cartridges. They did a terrific job sterilising equipment, moving quickly, and wearing gloves to protect the samples from degradation and cross-contamination. Thanks to the innovative reagent chemistry (developed in Otago) and extraction cartridges, purified DNA was recovered from our PDQeX instrument in less than 20 minutes.

After some fun pipetting practice, students set up qPCR reactions to detect the presence of several non-indigenous and invasive species including Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii), clubbed tunicate (Styela clava), wakame (Undaria pinnatifida), and brown bryozoan, (Bugula neritina).

Minutes before the bell rang, students loaded samples into the portable Liberty-16 qPCR machine and saw the data traces output in real time on the ipad app. It was so rewarding seeing the excitement (that the method was working) and the concern (for the local ecosystem) on their faces when they learned that several of these invasive species were detected in their samples.

The extracted DNA was sent to one of the top NZ-based DNA sequencing providers, Sequench Ltd, for 18S library prep, MiSeq sequencing, and metabarcoding analysis. When asked, students said they were most excited to see which types of species will be detected in the different samples they took from some of their favourite spots around the Bay of Islands.

Report abuse