Field Genomics — Next Gen Scientist

Recent advancements in portable scientific tools (such as handheld DNA sequencers) enable promising opportunities for fieldwork and STEM-based teaching programs. Myself and collaborators have recently started to teach field-based genomics courses, including ‘Jungle Genomics’ in Peru, and our next upcoming course will be at UC Berkeley in summer 2019.

If you’re interested in learning more about these field courses, please send me a message! For additional resources, feel free to download some of our recent publications:

Download: Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building — **Download:** **Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building**

Download: GENOMICS IN THE JUNGLE: USING PORTABLE SEQUENCING AS A TEACHING TOOL IN FIELD COURSES — **Download**: **GENOMICS IN THE JUNGLE: USING PORTABLE SEQUENCING AS A TEACHING TOOL IN FIELD COURSES**

Download: Nanopore sequencing of long ribosomal DNA amplicons enables portable and simple biodiversity assessments with high phylogenetic resolution across broad taxonomic scale — **Download:** **Nanopore sequencing of long ribosomal DNA amplicons enables portable and simple biodiversity assessments with high phylogenetic resolution across broad taxonomic scale**

Download: A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology — **Download:** **A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology**

UC Berkeley Field Genomics Summer Course:

In this short course, we will take students into the field and the lab to receive hands-on training in cutting-edge molecular biology techniques, including sample collection, nucleotide isolation and amplification, real-time DNA sequencing, and bioinformatics. Students will work closely with graduate student mentors in the Integrative Biology Department at UC Berkeley and get exposure to different research labs and natural history museums on campus. The overall goal is for students to acquire skillsets that research scientists employ to answer a range of biological questions, such as species delimitation, evolutionary processes, pathogen diagnostics, and metagenomics.