Preservation of environmental DNA in Arctic sediments
The Arctic region is particularly sensitive to climate change and there is a need for new tools to understand the full range of long-term climate change impacts on the ocean and its biota. Extraction and analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA from marine sediment records has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of how the arctic marine ecosystem has responded to past changes. To move forward, we need to understand the full potential and limitations of DNA preservation in marine sediments.
We are looking for students with a background or a strong interest in geology, geochemistry, biochemistry or molecular biology. The project will involve ancient DNA extraction from arctic marine sediments. You will investigate DNA-mineral affinities and test different preservation conditions using atomic force microscopy to unravel the potential of DNA as a tool in past climate studies.
The project will be carried out in collaboration with GEUS (Glaciology and Climate Department, see PACE and project ICEPRINT) and KU (Globe Institute, see Molecular Geobiology).
Contacts:
Sofia Ribeiro sri@geus.dk (Senior Researcher) GEUS, Department of Glaciology and Climate
Karina Sand kks@sund.ku.dk (Associate Professor) Globe Institute, Copenhagen University