eDNA Expeditions is primarily designed for marine sites. As an individual, you may have an opportunity to participate by contacting a participating site that is part of the project and getting involved in their local sampling efforts.

Great. During this first phase, we are recruiting marine sites. Are you a marine site manager, or part of a team that can organize sampling activities at a marine site and commit for the full three years of the project? If so, you can apply via the application form. No worries if you are not an expert or a trained scientist: the sampling protocol has been designed to be inclusive and fool-proof.

We are looking for marine sites that have a need for enhanced biodiversity monitoring and could benefit from an environmental DNA (eDNA) approach. One of the core objectives of the project is to develop dashboards that integrate sampling results and insights to directly support local decision-making at participating sites.

No. This project is specifically aimed at marine sites only.

In eDNA Expeditions 2026–2028, a participating site refers to the broader marine area of ecological, cultural, or conservation importance that is part of the project.

A sampling location refers to a specific, smaller marine area within that site where eDNA sampling activities are carried out.

Typically, each participating site includes four to five fixed sampling locations, which remain the same throughout the duration of the project to ensure consistency and allow for meaningful comparisons over time.

The application deadline is 15 February 2026.

There is no predefined team size. Sampling teams can be very small and can consist of as few as two people.

No. You do not need to be a scientist to take part in sampling operations. A clear protocol, dedicated training, and a fool-proof sampling kit developed with our partner Wilderlab make sampling accessible to almost anyone.

Yes. If you have a clearly identified marine site with defined sampling locations, a sampling team (which can be small), access to transportation to reach sampling locations (for example, a boat), and the ability to commit for the full three years of the project, you are eligible to apply.

Training is delivered online by a team of OBIS eDNA experts and focuses on field sampling. The OBIS team will also support participating sites with the interpretation of results once data are available.

Participating sites will be selected to ensure broad geographic coverage, while also prioritizing regions with a strong need for additional biodiversity data to support management and conservation decisions.

Yes, absolutely, as long as the sampling protocol is respected. Samples can be taken from the water surface down to a maximum depth of 15 metres.

To ensure accuracy and robustness, sampling must take place at four to five different locations within each participating site. These locations will remain the same throughout the duration of the project.

Once the four to five sampling locations are selected for a participating site, they will remain unchanged for the entire project duration. This consistency allows for indicator development and trend assessment. The project team can support participating sites in selecting the most relevant sampling locations.

Samples are typically processed within one month of their arrival at the laboratory. Participating sites are responsible for promptly shipping samples after collection; shipping costs are covered by the project.

No. There is no limitation per country. A total of 25 participating sites will be selected, with the aim of global geographic coverage and supporting biodiversity monitoring where it is most needed.

No. Travel costs related to sampling activities are not covered by the project.

No minimum expertise level is required. Teams can be entirely composed of citizen scientists.

Time commitment varies depending on the context at each participating site, especially how easy it is to access sampling locations and how the site plans to use the results. For some sites, sampling locations are accessible from shore, and a small team can complete a sampling campaign in a short field visit. For other sites, sampling requires vessels or expeditions, larger teams, and more planning time. In addition to fieldwork, sites should plan time for coordination (campaign scheduling, engagement with local communities for at least one sampling event, logistics, and shipping) and for reviewing results with the eDNA Expeditions 2026-2028 project team. Some participating sites will also choose to invest additional time to integrate the results into local management or conservation action strategies, while others may use the dashboards primarily for monitoring and reporting.

Operational efforts under the responsibility of participating sites include all actions required to conduct sampling campaigns. This typically involves organizing the sampling team, arranging access to sampling locations (including vessels and fuel when needed), and carrying out the sampling activities. The project provides sampling kits, covers shipping to the sequencing facility, and covers sequencing, bioinformatic analysis, and results delivery through dashboards.

A formal legal designation is not mandatory for sites to apply. What is mandatory is a commitment to participate for the full project duration (2026–2028), follow the project protocol, conduct 6 to 9 sampling campaigns, and involve local actors (schools, local communities, and others) in at least one sampling campaign.

All data generated through the project are owned by the participating sites. Participating sites agree to make the data openly available through OBIS and the eDNA Expeditions dashboard.

Yes. Participating sites will be acknowledged in publications resulting from the project and may take part in global or regional synthesis work.

All data will be published through the OBIS Secretariat IPT to enable automated data workflows. OBIS Nodes can be associated with datasets, meaning the Node will be indicated on dataset pages and datasets will also appear on the Node’s page.

Yes. OBIS Nodes are welcome to engage beyond individual site participation and will benefit from the data workflows and dashboards developed through the project. We expect that eDNA workflows and indicator developments will become more robust and transferable to other regions over time.