Southampton Press features eDNA expedition and indigenous partnership on the front page of its 9/18/25 edition

In September 2024, we conducted an ambitous eDNA expedition to assess biodiversity in Shinnecock Bay using environmentally friendly and semi-autonomous technology. The expedition used cutting edge robotic devices from Open Ocean Robotics and McLane Laboratories, and we were honored to carry Explorers Club Flag #132 .

The Southampton Press article also covers how we are partnering with citizens of the Shinnecock Nation to integrate indigenous voices into research, and how the Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot's Indigenous Advisory Council is contributing to scientific progress and community building.

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Collaboration, Reclamation and Hope: The Story of a Scientific Triumph on Shinnecock Bay

When Shinnecock Bay was designated as a “Hope Spot” in 2022 by Mission Blue — a global organization dedicated to creating public awareness and support for marine environments — it was a big moment for members of the Shinnecock Nation.

The bay, which Mission Blue called “a hidden gem of biodiversity,” earned the designation for showing progress and promise in recovering from outside forces that had led to water quality degradation over the years, and becoming a marine environment notable for nurturing a large number of marine species.

That progress did not happen overnight. It was the result of many years of hard work and efforts by several different people and groups, who worked collaboratively to achieve the common goal of restoring the marine environment, which is sacred to the people of the Shinnecock Nation.

One of the best examples of that collective effort was a project that took place in September of last year, under the guidance of the Indigenous Advisory Council and scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

For two weeks in September 2024, scientists with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, led by Dr. Ellen Pikitch, worked together with several members of the nation, who came together in the newly formed Indigenous Advisory Council, most notably Dr. Kelsey Leonard and Sunshine Gumbs, to conduct a groundbreaking research expedition, outfitting an all-electric, self-righting, solar-powered uncrewed surface vessel called the Data Xplorer (made by Open Ocean Robotics), with an eDNA sampler — the RoSCI, made by McLane Research Laboratories — that has the capability to collect more than 24 samples per outing, and can go out on the bay both day and night to collect that data.

The project was an expansion of IOCS’s 12-year biodiversity study in Shinnecock Bay, which has used various fisheries monitoring techniques including hand-collected eDNA samples for the past five years.

Leonard was a co-principal investigator (lead researcher) with Pikitch on the project.

The project earned special recognition from the Explorers Club, carrying the club’s Flag No. 132 during the duration of the project.

Flying an Explorers Club flag is considered a high honor, because of the tradition associated with the club and its flags. A flag expedition must be approved via application and must further the cause of exploration and field science. Only a small percentage of expeditions are approved for carrying a flag into the field.

Flag No. 132 has been flown on expeditions since the 1940s, and been at both poles and on other ocean explorations around the world.

While the eDNA biodiversity sampling expedition was completed a year ago, the team led by Pikitch and Leonard has been hard at work since then assessing and analyzing the data it collected. Pikitch is preparing to author a paper sharing the findings.

Shinnecock Bay is tucked away in a small and unassuming corner of the globe, but its impact locally is huge, especially from the perspective of the Shinnecock people.

During the tribe’s annual Powwow, held every Labor Day weekend, a booth was set up to share the work that has been done and spread the word about Shinnecock Bay’s designation as a Hope Spot. Visitors to the booth were invited to write down, on illustrated postcards, what their own personal hopes for Shinnecock Bay were. The answers reflect the centrality that body of water has to many people:

“Preserve all marine life”

“Clean water for all”

“Become plentiful again”

“May it return to the natural state of the Indigenous people”

“Shinnecock secures the right to govern the whole bay”

Those were just a few of the messages people took time to write down.

The scientists and tribal members who have devoted so much of their time and energy to the bay are on the same page, and a lot has come together in recent years to help get them there.

The emergent technology of using environmental DNA in aquatic environments to study and assess the biodiversity of a given water body has been a big component of the research being conducted in the bay. Pikitch explained why taking water samples and analyzing the eDNA is such an exciting technology.

“In addition to being able to detect the entire size spectrum, it’s also noninvasive nondestructive, because you’re not touching anything, you’re not disturbing the bottom,” Pikitch said of the eDNA water sample method.

Pikitch met Leonard about five years ago, when Leonard attended a talk she was giving about the benefits of eDNA sampling. They did not meet that day, but Leonard reached out to Pikitch and they started talking and ultimately collaborating on the Hope Spot designation, the USV vessel and eDNA sampling, and earning the Explorers Club flag.

Pikitch said that the strengthening of the bond between her and the other research scientists at Stony Brook and members of the tribe, including the Indigenous Advisory Council, has greatly benefited the project overall.

Leonard and Pikitch may have connected by chance, but they seemed fated to work together. Leonard said they have a shared interest in “understanding marine biodiversity for overall conservation and continuity of a really special part of our planet that we call Shinnecock Bay.”

Both of their scientific portfolios have been exploring what eDNA capacity looks like, Leonard added.

The use of eDNA has appealed to Leonard, in part, because it is aligned with the Indigenous value system of taking the least invasive and destructive approach to scientific research, and prioritizing a low carbon footprint.

“So eDNA has been very accessible, approachable and intriguing for Indigenous scientists and communities who want to better address biodiversity loss,” Leonard said.

The work is also deeply personal for Leonard, because of her Shinnecock heritage, and the tribe’s special relationship with the bay.

“It’s often a question of, are we named for the bay or is the bay named for us?” she said. “And where does one end and another begin? We’re inherently interconnected and interdependent. Having a healthy bay means having a healthy nation.”

It’s why the creation of the advisory council has been so important, Leonard said.

“The council for the Hope Spot, they represent that multifaceted meaning behind why it’s important to protect the bay,” she said. “We have folks who are scientists, language-keepers, artists, kelp farmers, educators. We have folks who are part of our government staff and environmental department. So I think that tapestry of advisors also solidifies the importance of what Shinnecock Bay means to us and how to protect it. It’s not categorized as a natural resource; it’s a living being that is inherent in everything we are and will be.”

Pikitch, Leonard, Gumbs and another Stony Brook scientist were the facilitators of expedition last year and were guided by advice from the members of the advisory council. Gumbs had the opportunity to learn how to use computer technology to set the course and pilot USV, and was at the site almost every day, sometimes as early as 6 a.m.

She works as an ethnobotany project manager for the nation, and has been working with Leonard on indicators of climate change impact. She said she was thrilled to play a vital role in the expedition last year.

“When I was asked to be part of this project, of course I was more than willing,” she said. “Anything for the protection of our waters and our land, I’m always all for. That’s why I do this work.”

Pikitch shared some of the early findings from last September’s project, which took many months to analyze and assess.

She said the idea that the eDNA sampling would detect more species than bottom trawling certainly bore out. It showed that there was DNA evidence of 12 species of sharks in Shinnecock Bay, when previous bottom trawling missions had only shown four species.

There’s also an abundance of tropical fish species living in the bay at certain times of year. They tend to die out once the water cools down, after being carried up north by currents.

The work done last September also showed that many species are reproducing and thriving in the new habitats that have been created in the bay, thanks to work that has been done in the field of habitat restoration by many scientists over the past few years.

Because of the success of the mission, the work can now continue. Pikitch said that, for last year’s project, there was only enough funding to rent the necessary equipment — the USV and the eDNA sampler. But because the project attracted a lot of attention and was a success, they were invited to submit for more funding, and were successful, earning enough to fund the purchase of the necessary equipment, which will allow them to continue doing the work for several years.

It’s the kind of research that will provide crucial data and information about how water quality improvements are translating to fish and species populations, and what the ongoing effects of climate change are.

The added element of flying the Explorers Club flag was a valuable part of the experience as well.

Leonard admitted that, at first, there was some apprehension around the idea of applying for the Explorers Club flag. The overarching idea of exploration and expeditions, and the bearing of flags naturally summons up the imagery of colonialism and exploitation. But Leonard explained that it was ultimately an enriching experience, because it gave tribal members involved in the project an opportunity to “re-story,” a concept spoken about at length by Jeff Corntassel, a member of the Cherokee tribe, who talks about how predominant colonial narratives can be reshaped through an Indigenous lens.

“I’ve seen this as a way to re-story and reclaim the narrative of exploration,” Leonard said. “It’s not something that has to be done to us; we can be explorers and lead and co-lead these types of expeditions that cut through our waters and homelands and be the beneficiaries of the science.”

Challenging the trauma of the past, and finding a way, in the field of environmental science, to be hopeful about the future both feel radical in many ways. But it’s part of what has made the collaborative efforts that led to last year’s expedition, and the future of that work, so exciting.

“Science should be joyful at the end of the day,” Leonard said. “And that’s something we’ve taken away from this process. We’re really excited for where this will go.”