Keynote Presentation: Dr. Tyler Murchie

Ancient DNA: Recent Advances and Near Term Prospects from a Canadian Perspective

The fields of ancient and environmental DNA have progressed rapidly in the last decade. This includes the recovery of ecosystem wide 2-million-year-old sedimentary ancient DNA and whole genome reconstructions from both discrete tissues and environmental samples. This presentation overviews exciting developments in modern environmental DNA research—notably the emerging field of airborne environmental DNA—the state of ancient DNA research today and associated methodologies, and reviews how ancient DNA has contributed to our understandings of Beringian palaeoecology, and where improvements are needed. Highlights from several ongoing (unpublished) ancient environmental DNA projects across Canada are discussed, as is our plan in development to create a Canadian ancient DNA collaborative network.