Pathway to BioTrails: DNA-assisted species identification for citizen science

BioTrails is a project of the MDI Biological Laboratory in collaboration with the National Park Service and the Schoodic Education and Research Center Institute, and is supported by an award from the National Science Foundation (DRL-1223210). The goal of the project is to establish practices for combining public participation in scientific research (citizen science) with DNA-based species identification (DNA barcoding) to scale-up and improve the accuracy of research projects that monitor animal and plant species in the sea and on land as they respond to climate and environmental changes. Once established through this project, the BioTrails team will expand the model to other national parks and long-distance trails, paving the way for engaging more citizen scientists in more places to understand, monitor, and manage biodiversity in a changing world.

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