In the citizen science project "DNA macht Schule," students in North Rhine-Westphalia are collecting important data on the ecological status of rivers using environmental DNA metabarcoding. The project was presented at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) during the federal ministries' open day.

The new phase of the CRC RESIST also brought with it new challenges – and our doctoral students, staff, and students mastered them with great commitment. ExStream 2025 was successfully implemented with a newly developed mesocosm and numerous innovative approaches, representing an exciting step forward for the project.

At the mid-term meeting of the DNAquaIMG project, the team from various European universities and countries exchanged progress and initial results to expand transnational biodiversity monitoring of benthic macroinvertebrates and diatoms with DNA- and image-based data.

From 29-30 September 2025 this year's Water Research Horizon Conference took place in Bochum. From our team Florian (as Co-Chair of the Water Science Alliance), Marie-Thérése with the "DNA goes to school" poster and Mia as winner of this year's Interdisciplinary Aquatic Ecosystem Research Award (congrats) participated.