MTS eDNA Technology Committee Seminar | California Department of Water Resources Seminar

Date: February 10, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET / 10:00 to 11:30 AM PT
Register: Click here

This talk showcases California Department of Water Resources’ eDNA strategy and the use of eDNA to monitor threatened and invasive species as well as natural communities. We’ll highlight tools, technical and organizational needs, partnerships, and lessons learned as we make strides to advance eDNA implementation in support of California water management decisions.

Speakers

Melinda Baerwald, California Department of Water Resources 

Melinda is an Environmental Program Manager in the Division of Integrated Science and Engineering at the California Department of Water Resources. She manages the Collaborative Science and Innovation section and co-leads DWR’s genetic monitoring laboratory, which focuses on applying genetic tools (including eDNA methods) to protect the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem and reliably supply water for California.

Daphne Gile, California Department of Water Resources 

Daphne is an Environmental Program Manager at the California Department of Water Resources in the Division of Integrated Science and Engineering where she manages the Estuarine Science and Monitoring section. She co-leads DWR’s genetic monitoring laboratory and has a special interest in environmental DNA and metabarcoding methods for detection of rare species and ecosystem monitoring in response to water management actions in the San Francisco Bay-Delta.

Louise Conrad, California Department of Water Resources

Louise Conrad joined DWR as its Lead Scientist in July 2022. The Lead Scientist position provides science leadership for the agency by ensuring and advancing best practices and capacity for conducting science, by tracking and prioritizing scientific initiatives and direction, and by providing science-related policy guidance to the DWR Directorate. Louise is a fisheries biologist by training and earned her Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 2008.

Moderator

Susie Theroux, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project

Dr. Susanna Theroux is an ecologist specializing in microbiology and bioassessment, specifically the interactions between microbial communities and nutrient stressors. She specializes in the use of high-throughput DNA sequencing to untangle microbial interactions, from nutrient food webs and carbon cycling to novel species characterization. Her research focuses on the development of molecular methods (next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing) for bioassessment, with a special focus on microbial community response to anthropogenic disturbance and the use of algal assemblages as indicators of environmental degradation. She has worked in a range of aquatic systems with a special focus on photosynthetic microalgae as sentinels of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change She received her B.A. in biology and geology from Williams College in 2005, and M.S. and Ph.D. in geological sciences from Brown University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. She joined SCCWRP in 2016.