Our citizen science project ‘DNA macht Schule’ was presented at the ‘Grüne Woche’ in Berlin. Visitors learned how environmental DNA is used to assess biodiversity in flowing waters. We presented our school program in discussions with children, teenagers, teachers, and experts. In an interactive quiz, visitors discovered exciting stories about different species in our rivers and streams. Many thanks to the BMUKN for the invitation and the opportunity to present our project!

Iris has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled:
"Navigating complexity: Exploring the untapped potential of mesocosm experiments for multiple-stressor research"

and receicved her PhD Degree

Recommendations from a workshop hosted by VDI and BfN, coordinated by Florian and colleagues, outline how DNA metabarcoding can be standardized for official biodiversity monitoring. Researchers, authorities, and practitioners jointly identified key challenges across sampling, laboratory workflows, and data handling.

The resulting roadmap defines minimum technical requirements, highlights the need for harmonized terminology and robust reference databases, and proposes a structured quality management framework to support routine application in conservation and environmental protection.

It was a true pleasure to welcome our colleague Prof. Feilong Li to our group and discuss our ongoing work on multiple stressors in rivers, (e)DNA based biomonitoring methods, automation in Germany (University of Duisburg-Essen), China (Guangdong University of Technology and Nanjing University), Switzerland (University of Zurich and Eawag). We share many interests and lots of synergies exist to extend for the sake of our planet.