From Mount Everest to the Annamite Mountains: Applying molecular tools for wildlife conservation

From Mount Everest to the Annamite Mountains: Applying molecular tools for wildlife conservation, presented by Dr. Tracie Seimon, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, at the Bronx Zoo in New York.

Dr. Seimon directs for WCS the development and implementation of molecular diagnostic technologies to search for wildlife and endangered species using environmental DNA (eDNA). These tools help identify species in the wildlife trade, diagnose infectious diseases in wildlife, and detect rare species in the wild –such as Saola. She was instrumental in guiding development for the Saola Foundation of the first-ever Saola-specific rapid DNA test kit – a technical cornerstone of our search for Saola.

Her work and teaching has covered Cambodia, the Russian Far East, Uganda, Rwanda, Peru, Myanmar, Vietnam and now, more recently, Lao PDR with the Saola Foundation!

Check out this fascinating talk on her genetics ‘detective work’ for wildlife.