The GuardIAS Summer School 2026 is an intensive training programme focused on the surveillance of aquatic invasive species using environmental DNA (eDNA). The summer school combines lectures, hands-on sessions, and applied case studies to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of eDNA-based monitoring, from sampling design and laboratory workflows to bioinformatics analysis, data validation, and integration into management and policy frameworks.
Details
GuardIAS eDNA Summer School Agenda
Meet the Trainers
Rakel Blaalid [Nord University] A biologist and researcher at Nord University, Norway, with a PhD in Biology from the University of Oslo. Her research expertise lies in molecular ecology, fungal biodiversity, and environmental DNA (eDNA), with a strong focus on DNA metabarcoding, molecular methods, and taxonomy to study species diversity and community composition. She has extensive experience working at the interface of biodiversity research, invasive species management, and environmental policy, and has contributed to several high-impact, policy-relevant projects, including European initiatives on invasive alien species. Dr Blaalid is a member of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) and the national expert group for red-listed fungi in Norway, and serves as the Nord University contact point for the Norwegian Barcoding Initiative (NorBOL). She has published widely in international peer-reviewed journals and is actively involved in research-driven training and knowledge exchange.
Rein Brys [EV INBO] A senior researcher at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium, he coordinates the environmental DNA (eDNA) research within the Genetic Diversity team. He is a recognized expert in eDNA and his work focuses on biodiversity monitoring, population genetics, and conservation biology, supporting ecosystem assessment and management. He has extensive experience applying genetic and genomic approaches to study invasive species and their impact on aquatic biodiversity and ecological change, contributing to both applied conservation and policy-relevant research. He has (co-)authored more than 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and is actively involved in numerous interdisciplinary projects that bridge science, management, and decision-making. He also regularly contributes to training activities and knowledge-exchange initiatives, fostering the integration of innovative molecular methods into environmental monitoring and nature conservation practice.
Teun Everts [EV INBO] is a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) in Belgium. He works within the Genetic Diversity team, where his research focuses on upscaling the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) in both fundamental and applied studies of freshwater non-native invasive species, with particular attention to amphibians and fish. His work specifically investigates how eDNA concentrations can be optimally quantified to ensure strong correlations with species densities, thereby supporting effective management coordination and evaluation. In addition, he applies combined eDNA barcoding and metabarcoding approaches to assess the ecological consequences of aquatic invasions on native communities.
Chrysa Gubili [FRI] is a Senior Researcher at the Fisheries Research Institute (ELGO-DIMITRA) in Greece. She is an evolutionary biologist and uses molecular genetics as a tool to address a wide variety of questions regarding the ecology, evolution and behaviour of marine species (from benthic megafauna to large predators). Her work focuses on threatened, fragile or commercially important wild populations with the goal of improving management strategies. Her research endeavours have developed around the study of elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and skates), but currently, her primary focus is understanding how evolutionary processes have shaped patterns of modern biodiversity and the implementation of molecular tools for monitoring.
Stelios Katsanevakis [Aegean University] is a Professor of marine ecology in the Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean. Before that, he worked in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, and the European Commission’s Join Research Centre. His research focuses on marine conservation, ecological monitoring, and the impacts of biological invasions on biodiversity and ecosystem services. He has participated as coordinator or principal researcher in >50 research projects and was the Chair of the COST Action MarCons ‘Advancing marine conservation in the European and contiguous seas’. He is coordinating the Horizon Europe project GuardIAS ‘Guarding European Waters from Invasive Alien Species’. He is (co)author of >250 papers in international scientific journals, and his work has received >22,000 citations. He is included among the top 1% scientists worldwide in Marine Biology, based on Scopus standardized citation metrics.
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Amy Mackintosh [Nord University] is a doctoral candidate at Nord University in Norway. Her research focuses on using spatial modelling to assess the impacts of climate change on global marine aquaculture species and regions, informing stakeholders of potential challenges and opportunities. During this time, she was also involved in the MPAEurope project as an organiser of the 58th European Marine Biology Symposium and the Marine Protected Areas in Marine Spatial Planning Conference. Currently, Amy is working on the GuardIAS project at Nord University, which utilises new technologies to detect, monitor, and prevent Alien Invasive Species (IAS) in European aquatic environments.
Amalia Mailli [Nord University] holds a degree in Marine Biology (2010) and recently obtained her PhD in Biosciences from Nord University, Norway, where her research focused on benthic metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. Her doctoral work centered on the analysis of eDNA and eRNA from marine eukaryotic ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on developing and refining methods for community-level ecosystem profiling. She has contributed to many eDNA-based research projects, including the Horizon Europe GEANS project, which evaluated the applicability and implementation of genetic tools for marine ecosystem monitoring. She has strong expertise in bioinformatics and large-scale environmental data analysis. She is currently a research fellow at Nord University, working on the Horizon Europe project GuardIAS. Within GuardIAS, her work focuses on the application and advancement of eDNA methods for monitoring invasive species, as well as on enhancing and integrating citizen science approaches into invasive species surveillance.
Agnese Marchini [University of Pavia] A full professor of Ecology at the University of Pavia, Italy, where she has held responsibilities in teaching coordination, communication and internationalization. Her research mainly concerns aquatic biological invasions, considering different aspects of the issue including management aspects, and participating in international working groups on the topic, including the Working Group on Marine bioinvasions (WGBIOINV) of ICES, and the Working Group on Invasive Alien Species (WGIAS) of DG Environment of the European Commission. Author or co-author of nearly one hundred articles published in international scientific journals, her research has been displayed in >100 outreach articles (magazines, newspapers, radio), and she actively engages in various public outreach initiatives (documentaries, exhibitions, seminars, open labs, science festivals, science-art shows, educational MOOCs and participatory workshops).
Joost Raeymaekers [Nord University] A professor of evolutionary ecology and landscape genomics at Nord University, Norway, where he leads research on the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping biodiversity across spatial scales. He holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and has extensive expertise in molecular ecology, population and landscape genomics, environmental DNA (eDNA), and community ecology. His research integrates genomic tools with ecological theory to understand adaptation, species interactions, and biodiversity responses to environmental change, with applications in conservation and ecosystem management. Dr Raeymaekers has published widely in leading international journals and contributes to large collaborative initiatives at the science–policy interface, including European projects on invasive species and biodiversity monitoring. He is an active member of international research networks and regularly contributes to training, supervision, and capacity-building activities in molecular and landscape ecology.
Lauriane Ribas-Deulofeu [Nord University] holds a PhD in Life Sciences (2020, Academia Sinica – National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan), where she studied drivers of coral reefs resilience under climate change and anthropogenic disturbances. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Nord University, Norway (2024-2026) focusing on AI-assisted approaches for high-frequency marine biodiversity monitoring. Her research career spans Taiwan, South Korea, and Norway, emphasizing marine ecosystem resilience, tropicalization, and the use of new technologies and legal tools for sustainable ocean management. While her expertise lies in field-based marine ecology and digital imaging, Lauriane has practical experience in eDNA sampling in challenging environments. She has collected and processed samples in remote locations for partner teams lacking underwater capacities, ensuring safe transport and subsequent molecular analysis. This experience provides her with valuable insights into field-based eDNA methodologies in resource-limited settings. Previously, she contributed to the nation-wide assessment of Taiwan’s coral reefs and MPAs at National Taiwan University. She now works on the BioBoost+ project, improving non-invasive, high-frequency marine biodiversity monitoring using AI and digital imaging, and participates in the GuardIAS project, leveraging citizen scientist and computer vision for early detection and monitoring of invasive alien species in European waters via the global iNaturalist platform.
Mar Santos-Simon [University of Pavia] Graduated from Ghent University (Belgium) in Marine Biological Resources (MSc) and holds a PhD from the University of the Basque Country (Spain) and the University of Pavia (Italy) since 2024. Currently, she is a lecturer of Applied Ecology and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of Pavia. She also has experience in international academic teaching, as lecturer and co-organiser of the Erasmus Blended Intensive Programme ‘Marine Environmental Threats’. Her work focuses on the study of antifouling coatings for recreational boats through the application of an array of ecotoxicological and ecological approaches to assess their impacts – from organism to community responses and from molecular biomarkers to whole community assemblages. She is involved in the Horizon Europe project GuardIAS, where she contributes to the organization of citizen science initiatives targeting the recreational boating sector. These activities aim to raise awareness of alien species, promote best practices for their prevention, and enhance social engagement in environmental surveillance. In addition, she is leading the educational content creation for the development of free massive online open courses (MOOCs), designed for e-learning and professional training across a wide range of audiences, including university students, environmental managers and educators, policymakers, and local authorities.
Prabhugouda Siriyappagouder [Nord University] He is a Ph.D. graduate in Aquatic Biosciences with more than seven years of hands-on research, teaching, and technical experience in fish health and aquaculture. His expertise spans fish-associated microorganisms, host–microbe interactions, functional feeds, and epigenetics, with a strong focus on elucidating the complex relationships between aquatic organisms and their microbial environments. His research has extensively covered fish microbiology and health management, immunology, molecular biology, toxicology, and aquaculture biotechnology. He has proven expertise in disease diagnostics, pathogen detection, antimicrobial resistance, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. He has substantial experience supporting multidisciplinary research projects, analysing datasets, and training students and researchers in microbiology, molecular and cell biology, and sequencing methodologies at Nord University. He is particularly interested in integrating laboratory- and field-based research approaches to address critical challenges in fish health, disease prevention, and aquaculture sustainability, thereby advancing fish welfare and aquatic biosciences.
Irina Smolina [Nord University] A molecular marine ecologist with a PhD in Aquatic Biosciences from Nord University (Bodø, Norway). Since 2018, she has worked as a senior lab manager in the Genomics group at Nord University, where she is actively involved in teaching, research projects, and laboratory coordination. Her research focuses on species identification and evolutionary processes at both micro- and macro-scales, molecular stress responses and adaptation, and the effects of climate change on the diversity and distribution of marine organisms. Her work spans a wide range of taxa, from seaweeds and kelp to zooplankton, amphipods, and both bony and cartilaginous fishes. Irina provides scientific and technical support to students and researchers, covering methodologies from basic molecular biology techniques to advanced library preparation and sequencing using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore technologies. She aims to help students to bridge molecular laboratory work and bioinformatics, emphasising that decisions made during laboratory workflows often have critical implications for downstream bioinformatic analyses.
Anastasija Zaiko [Sequench] A marine scientist with a broad expertise in aquatic ecology, ecology of biological invasions and the development and assessment of molecular tools for monitoring and surveillance. She started her eDNA journey in early 2010s in Lithuania, applying molecular approaches to marine non-indigenous species detection, ballast water assessment and monitoring of the coastal ecosystems. After moving to New Zealand in 2014, she had leading roles in many national and international research programmes, projects and field expeditions, conducting experimental and observational studies in aquatic ecosystems employing a range of different surveillance techniques (traditional and molecular). In 2021, Anastasija took a leap from her purely academic career and opened a professional molecular lab Sequench, in Nelson, New Zealand and in Klaipeda, Lithuania, offering high-throughput sequencing services as well as wider range of molecular analyses and science underpinned solutions for environmental monitoring. In 2023, she was elected a President of the recently established Southern eDNA Society (SeDNAs), which stem from the informal collaboration of motivated eDNA practitioners across Australia and New Zealand and aims to promote science and industry collaboration to advance best practice eDNA methods and their wider adoption nature research and conservation.
