Ryan Kelly

Associate Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Director, The eDNA Collaborative

I have a broad set of interests, focused both on hard scientific data and policymakers’ use of those data. I study the interplay between ecology and genetics in marine species, joining primary research with real-world implementation in law and policy. I am generally attracted to projects that have significant elements of both scientific and policy relevance as we work towards more sustainable use of marine resources. Between the Tides book here. Google Scholar page here.

Eily Allan

Chief Scientist, The eDNA Collaborative

Eily’s research is focused on using environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor aquatic species. She is interested in all things eDNA - from nuts and bolts type questions to applied ecological questions. In the past, she has explored whether different types of animals (e.g., fish vs. jellyfish) shed different amounts of eDNA, how long eDNA persists in water, and how far eDNA can be transported. She is also interested in emerging technologies like using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for sampling water and using CRISPR-based methods for rapid, on-site eDNA detection. More about Eily here.

Kate Bertko

Project Manager, MMARINeDNA Grant

Kate works with the Kelly Lab as a project manager on the the MMARINeDNA (Marine Mammal Remote detection via Innovative environmental DNA sampling) grant which is investigating the transportation, persistence and distribution of marine mammal DNA at different spatial and temporal scales along the US West Coast. Prior to joining the Kelly Lab, Kate competed and coached rowing at the collegiate and Olympic level. She holds a A.B. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University. 

ELIZABETH BRASSEALE

Extraordinary Postdoc

Elizabeth received her PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Washington School of Oceanography in 2020. She specializes in modeling coastal transport at the shelf, estuarine, and nearshore scales with interdisciplinary applications such as water quality forecasting and larval transport. As a part of the Kelly lab, she has proudly added eDNA to her repertoire of "things I have modeled transport of." When not in the lab, she can be found birding, playing board games, or talking through movies.

Lauren Cortez French

Extraordinary Grad Student

Lauren is a master’s student in SMEA interested in aquatic microbial ecology and its intersection with human health. She received her B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science & Policy from William & Mary where she used eDNA metabarcoding to study aquatic fungal community composition. Lauren’s SMEA thesis is focused on spatial and temporal trends in marine biotoxins detected from bivalve tissue samples. In the Kelly Lab, she assists with eDNA metabarcoding of algal communities in Washingon’s marine waters. 

Sam Engster

Extraordinary Laboratory Technician

Sam is a molecular genetics technician at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center with NOAA and UW/CICOES. Having earned a B.S. in Natural Resources from Central Michigan University and (soon) an M.S. in Biology from the University of West Florida, her past research has included projects that focused on conservation genetics of Michigan turtles, hormone levels in the whiskers of pinnipeds, and most recently, using eDNA metabarcoding to characterize reef fish communities in the Gulf of Mexico. She is excited to continue applying eDNA methods for marine conservation.

OWEN LIU

Extraordinary Research Scientist

Owen is a spatial and fisheries ecologist and environmental data scientist interested in how relationships within and among species inform how we should manage marine ecosystems and resources under a changing climate. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2019, and has been in Seattle since working as a researcher with NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Recently, he has worked on everything from whale entanglement to climate model downscaling to species distribution modeling. In the Kelly lab, Owenis hoping to help build eDNA-based spatial models to estimate species distributions in the ocean. You can find more about Owen here.

Stephanie Matthews

Extraordinary Research Scientist

Stephanie received her PhD in Biological Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2023. She is interested in species distributions and the ecological processes that give rise to them, particularly of pelagic zooplankton. As a part of the Kelly Lab, she is examining the distribution and population structure of yelloweye rockfish using eDNA. She is excited to develop new molecular tools for ecosystem management, as well as for the opportunity to go diving and finally meet her study subject in their own habitat.

Olivia Scott

Extraordinary Research Scientist

Olivia joined the Kelly Lab as a research scientist on the rockfish project. Originally from the East Coast, she earned her B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science at the University of New England, where she studied grassland birds and first fell in love with research. She later honed her lab skills working as a molecular analyst for a large biotech company. Before moving to Washington, Olivia fled from corporate life to spend the summer working as a biologist on the Maine Loon Restoration Project. She is excited to help develop methods for eDNA analysis to better understand the environment and inform conservation decisions.

Megan shaffer

Extraordinary Research Scientist

Megan is a molecular ecologist in the Kelly Lab on the the MMARINeDNA (Marine Mammal Remote detection via Innovative environmental DNA sampling) project between UW, NOAA and Scripps, which is investigating the transportation, persistence and distribution of marine mammal DNA at different spatial and temporal scales along the US West Coast. Megan received her PhD in Marine Biology from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) in 2019. She has worked as a research scientist on several projects examining population genetics of invertebrates on coral reefs and in temperate ecosystems. Before joining the Kelly Lab, Megan was a laboratory manager for a commercial eDNA lab in New Zealand, and is now interested in continuing to develop and apply eDNA methods for marine ecosystem monitoring and management.

Cara sucher

Program Manager, The eDNA Collaborative

Cara initially began her career studying paleoclimatology using polar ice core data, but quickly switched to the management and logistics sides of science starting with NSF’s US Global Climate Change Research Program and NOAA’s Office of Global Programs. She has many years’ experience managing science research, logistics and planning for the US Antarctic Program at all three permanent US stations and for both USAP-managed research vessels. Cara is very excited to be part of The eDNA Collaborative and helping facilitate this important work. Cara received her MS in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.

Lab Alumni

helen Casendino

Undergraduate / Alum

As an undergraduate in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Helen worked with others in the Kelly Lab on developing a conceptual understanding of how stochasticity arises among replicate samples of eDNA. She went on to characterize the insect communities of multiple creeks in Bellingham, Washington using eDNA samples collected by members of the Kelly Lab. As a recent graduate, she hopes to focus on quantitative approaches to understanding ecosystem disturbance in the professional sphere.

Abby Keller

Master’s Student / Alum

As a master's student in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Abby worked with the Kelly lab and Washington Sea Grant's Crab Team to refine an eDNA monitoring tool for invasive European Green Crab. She also developed a model that integrates eDNA detections and traditional green crab trapping data to quantify the added value of eDNA data. Abby is now a PhD student studying environmental decision science in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Department at UC Berkeley.

Zack Gold

Postdoc / Alum

Dr. Zachary Gold was a joint postdoc between the Kelly lab and NOAA NWFSC developing quantitative eDNA metabarcoding approaches to better understand both ecosystem responses to climate change and characterize the riverine foraging ecology of Cook Inlet Beluga whales. During his postdoc, Zack helped develop and empirically test our growing framework toward quantitative metabarcoding, highlighting the importance of DNA concentration and amplification efficiencies in estimating abundances and parsing signals from noise. He then applied these approaches to understanding the riverine foraging ecology of Cook Inlet beluga whales using eDNA approaches to identify putative prey targets and critical seasonal habitats for the endangered species. In addition, Zack used quantitative metabarcoding approaches to characterize fish assemblage responses to marine heatwave events using a novel application of metabarcoding to preserved CalCOFI ethanol samples, unlocking archived museum samples for understanding human impacts on marine ecosystems. Zack is now continuing this work in a joint position between Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Southern California Coastal Watershed Research Project, and NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center leading the molecular research arm of the CalCOFI program to understand ocean acidification/hypoxia impacts on zooplankton communities as well as developing and implementing eDNA approaches to survey key coastal CA species.

Alex Jensen

Postdoc / Alum

Alex was a postdoctoral scholar in the Kelly Lab from 2021-2022, where he collaborated with researchers from the Southwest and Northwest Fisheries Science Centers to model the marine distribution of Chinook salmon stocks using both genetic and physical tag-based historical data. He also contributed to the statistical analysis of eDNA data during his time at UW.

Alex left the lab to join the Bureau of Reclamation's Bay-Delta Office (based in Sacramento, California) as a Fish Biologist, where he currently works to model the ecology of fishes in the Central Valley and Bay-Delta regions and assist in ongoing decision analysis projects.

Ramón Gallego

Postdoc / Alum

I was a postdoc at the Kelly Lab between 2017 and 2019, and collaborated very closely during my next post at NOAA fisheries. During my tenure at the Kelly lab, I learned all the nuts and bolts around environmental DNA, and worked towards making metabarcoding data useful, particularly to make ecological inferences.
Since February 2022 I joined the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in Spain, as a Maria Zambrano fellow, from where I will continue collaborating with the Kelly lab.

ana ramon laca

Lab Tech / Alum

Ana was a molecular geneticist (aka Lab technician) at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA through the CICOES program (School of marine and environmental affairs, University of Washington). She worked on many eDNA detection, quantification and metabarcoding projects, developed species-specifc assays, GTseq panels, and amplification-free methods to generate fish mitogenomes de novo using CRISPR-Cas9. She is currently working at the National Museum of Natural History in Madrid (Spain) where she is working with eDNA, whole-genome sequencing, and many other fun projects using Oxford Nanopore platforms.

 Emily Jacobs-Palmer

Postdoc / Alum

Emily Jacobs-Palmer studied the genetic basis of sperm competitive traits as a graduate student, and then left academia briefly to teach high school biology. Emily currently employs genetic tools to look at the ecology of harmful-algal-bloom (HAB) forming species in Puget Sound, among other things.

Kelly Cribari

Marvelous Master's Student / Alum

Jimmy Kralj

Master's Student Extraordinaire / Alum

Natalie Lowell

Master's Student Extraordinaire / Alum