Citizen Science

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Citizen Science program

Regarding using eDNA approach to generate an index for monitoring the Lancang-Mekong River ecosystem, “Citizen Science” programs with participation from the local public can be an integral part of raising public awareness in sustainable management of water resources and distributing knowledge of science to the region. These activities will also deepen the communication between academics and communities of the Lancang-Mekong basin. Not only it ensures that the citizens understand the current research that is important to society, it also gets many more people to be involved in the project.

The program will be two folds:

Distributing knowledge and information to the public

  • Promoting the importance of the ecosystem of the Lancang-Mekong River
  • Introducing the concept of utilizing microorganisms as an untapped, yet to be discovered, indicator of water quality
  • Publicizing the effectiveness of utilizing the eDNA to generate biometrics for river monitoring

Training local students and volunteers scientifically to use innovative tools for water monitoring with biometrics

  • Collecting the water samples for scientific purposes, e.g. scheduling of the water collecting time, obtaining the samples, and shipping the samples
  • Extracting and purifying microbial DNA
  • PCR and DNA sequencing to discern the microorganisms presented in the samples
  • Analyzing and processing the data with bioinformatics
  • Generating biometrics for river monitoring

Aim

Over 150 “citizen scientists” will be trained by the program. Participants will be student- and teacher-oriented, especially those in schools, colleges, and universities around the stations.

Workshop activities

Are you interested in the MekongDNA's citizen science program? You can check our workshop activities and/or register to our upcoming workshop below;

Past events
Date Title Venue Program Video link
17 June 2022 eDNA data and their importance in biomonitoring of Mekong river microbial diversity
(ความสำคัญของข้อมูล eDNA และความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพของจุลินทรีย์ในแม่น้ำโขง ครั้งที่ 3)		 Lecture Hall, Mahidol University Amnatcharoen Campus, Amnat Charoen
22 March 2022 eDNA data and their importance in biomonitoring of Mekong river microbial diversity
(ความสำคัญของข้อมูล eDNA และความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพของจุลินทรีย์ในแม่น้ำโขง ครั้งที่ 2)		 U Place Conference Hall, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani
20 January 2022 eDNA data and their importance in biomonitoring of Mekong river microbial diversity
(ความสำคัญของข้อมูล eDNA และความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพของจุลินทรีย์ในแม่น้ำโขง ครั้งที่ 1)		 Heritage Chiang Rai Hotel, Chiang Rai
16 September 2021 eDNA: tracing Mekong microbial world
(eDNA เปิดเบาะแสโลกจุลินทรีย์แม่น้ำโขง)		 Online workshop via Webex teleconference Workshop program Watch it on Facebook Video

Upcoming events
Date Title Venue Program Video link

**New**

TBA 		eDNA data and their importance in biomonitoring of Mekong river microbial diversity
(ความสำคัญของข้อมูล eDNA และความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพของจุลินทรีย์ในแม่น้ำโขง ครั้งที่ 4)		 TBA Workshop program TBA