Stroud Scientists at Work IBOL: A Revolutionary Step Forward in Assessing and Addressing the Health of the Planet Imagine cheaply, rapidly and accurately cataloguing all the species of the world by genetic barcode. This immense undertaking, being driven now by the International Bar Code of Life (iBOL) project, has the potential to not only revolutionize research — but to affect public policy for pest and disease control, food safety, resource management and conservation, education and even recreation.

It’s an immense and important global project, with the commitment of a consortium of 25 countries to date, which will impact virtually every area where human populations interact with the world’s species.  And Bernard Sweeney, senior research scientist and director of the Stroud™ Water Research Center has been asked to play a critical role as its Freshwater Bio-Surveillance work group leader.

THE INTERNATIONAL BAR CODE OF LIFE PROJECT
The International Bar Code of Life (iBOL) project has overarching goals to both assemble a DNA sequence library of the world’s species and, create the technology to rapidly and inexpensively identify organisms. Cataloguing species using this universal, digital codification system will help refine taxonomic systems, provide new insights about species and, no doubt, generate many new questions worthy of scientific investigation.

The consortium hopes to institute ongoing, standardized identification and regular biotic monitoring that will answer critical questions related to food-web ecology, ecosystem integrity, and resilience to changes in climate — in effect, providing the tools to immediately assess the health of our planet — a necessary step if we are to put into place measures to protect it.

The organization’s immediate goal is to expand the current global catalogue of 40,000 species and 400,000 specimens to upwards of 500,000 species and 5,000,000 specimens within 5 years.  To do this will require great manpower and expertise as the Barcode Library will include the surveys of 10 target organism assemblages or environments, including: vertebrates, land plants, fungi, human pathogens and zoonoses, agricultural and forestry pests and their parasitoids, pollinators, marine and freshwater organisms.

A PRIORITY: THE FRESHWATER BIOSURVEILLANCE WORK GROUP
The importance of the freshwater bio-surveillance group is three-fold. The International Barcode of Life project has prioritized this group because 1) freshwater species are the most threatened by human activity including dams, habitat destruction and pollution, 2) species, such as fish, are of particular socio-economic importance, and 3) and certain groups of freshwater organisms (among them: caddisflies, mayflies and stoneflies) are used worldwide by scientists to assess water quality.

The promise of iBOL and the work of the Freshwater Surveillance group is far reaching,” said Paul Hebert, Integrative Biology Professor at the University of Guelph, Canada and Scientific Director of iBOL. “We have an opportunity to make huge strides in both characterizing the world’s biodiversity and in finding real utility in that knowledge. Sweeney’s appointment to help lead the Freshwater Surveillance group represents an essential step towards attaining these goals.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH BERN SWEENEY

What was it that prompted this appointment? The Stroud Water Research Center’s work using barcode technology to identify pollution-sensitive mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, and our decades-long experience in freshwater research positioned us well for some kind of involvement in this global effort. But, I’m particularly grateful to Dan Janzen, our friend and colleague at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost evolutionary ecologists in the world, for his recommendation on my behalf. This is groundbreaking work and the success of our efforts will vastly improve our ability to protect freshwater resources everywhere.

What is your first priority for the group? Our initial concentration will be on North America, working to create a freshwater “library of life” based first on museum collections of invertebrates most widely used for water quality assessment. The group will then compare the results of water quality assessments based on course identifications with those based on species level data. Our hope is that these pilot studies will validate the benefits of identification based on DNA barcoding and help solidify the required funding to take the program to Phase II and the rest of the world. If we’re successful, then the rapid, accurate and precise biotic monitoring this program enables will ensure more effective protection, restoration and remediation efforts of all of our freshwater resources.

How will this impact your role at Stroud Water Research Center? When I think of the potential for new relationships, collaborations, and the data this will produce, it can only benefit the Center. I’ll be part of an elite group of scientists and a consortium of 25 countries with the common goal to revolutionize our ability to understand and monitor the world’s biodiversity — and that has huge implications for freshwater quality. Happily, this role is closely aligned with my scientific goals here at the Center. It allows me to continue in my current role as Director of the Stroud Water Research Center, while pursuing my passion — scientific research in the area of aquatic ecology.                                                                                 

Links:
For more information on Dr. Bernard W. Sweeney, go to:
http://www.stroudcenter.org/about/bernardsweeney.htm

For more information on the International Barcode of Life project, go to:
www.dnabarcoding.org/

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