Overview

  • DNA metabarcoding
  • eDNA assays
  • Consultation
  • Interpretation of results
  • >400 completed projects for agencies, consultants, universities, and NGO’s
  • Broad taxonomic scope
  • >10 SFF publications
 Who we are: wildlife geneticists, ecologists, and bioinformaticians  Our mission: to offer species identification services to further wildlife research, management, and conservation globally

Questions?

Please see our FAQ page for more information and downloadables. For further questions and quotes, contact Dr. Faith Walker

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Our Genetic ID services:

Species from Feces

Bat Carcass ID for wind farms

Species detection via environmental DNA

We work with any taxon

Bat Species from Feces

We developed a robust genetic assay to identify bat species from their feces (Walker et al. 2016, 2019), which has been applied globally for a suite of applications for bat conservation and management. We use a collection of guano to identify bat community composition within roosts such as bridges, caves, mines, and buildings. Please see our searchable database to determine the utility of the assay for your species of interest.

Diet Species from Feces

We genetically identify diet of any species. Projects to date have included herbivores, carnivores, insectivores, and sanguivores. We regularly identify diet items to the genus or species level. Our ability to identify taxa to finer levels depends on the match between the DNA in the feces and the barcode data available. If needed, we can generate DNA barcodes for potential diet items as part of the project.

Pathogen Species from Feces

We identify a variety of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens from feces. Examples include rabies virus and Pd (white-nose syndrome).

Bat carcass ID for wind farms

We commonly identify bat species from tissue harvested from carcasses.

Species detection via environmental DNA

We develop and perform DNA metabarcoding and qPCR assays to detect bats and other taxa from water sources, soil, vegetation, and air.

Client Quotes

“We are working to protect bats in Rwanda and the Species from Feces program allowed us to better understand the ecosystem services bats provide through pest control and seed dispersal. This not only helps us gather important knowledge on bat species in Rwanda, but is also a powerful tool to shape our community education and awareness-raising programs to help people see that bats have a positive contribution to our society.”

-Olivier Nsengimana, Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association

“Northern Arizona University’s helpful genetic lab staff are wonderful to work with, providing guidance and tips on how to successfully collect samples. The test results are clearly summarized in graphs and in text format, making them easy to read and share with regulating agencies and the public.”

–Anonymous Consultant

“These are great results, and certainly give us information about prioritizing spring WNS surveillance efforts, show more species diversity than expected at most sites, and show MYLU presence at more sites than expected!”

–Biologist, NPS

“Our team has relied on the use of NAU’s DNA testing for dozens of unknown bats found during monitoring studies throughout the Midwest. NAU has reliably delivered identifications, even for bone and tissue samples that are discovered in the field after months of decay in humid conditions.”

–Anonymous Consultant

“This is phenomenal, I can’t tell you how excited I am to get these results!”

-Mauro Hernandez, NPS

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Photos © José G. Martínez-Fonseca and Faith Walker