eDNA
The Great American Survey
of Aquatic Life
PILOT PHASE — LIMITED REACHES OPEN

100,000 streams. One national survey of aquatic life.

Claim a stream, receive a sampling kit, and help reveal the fish, insects, amphibians and other organisms living in America's waters. No prior scientific experience required.
PILOT PHASE — LIMITED REACHES OPEN

100,000 streams. One national survey of aquatic life.

Claim a scientifically selected stream reach, receive a sampling kit, and help reveal the fish, insects, amphibians and other organisms living in America's waters.
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Open the reach map →
WHAT IS eDNA

Every animal in a river leaves its DNA in the water.

Fish, salamanders, mussels, insects and algae constantly shed cells, mucus and tissue. A liter of stream water carries a trace of nearly everything living upstream of it.

Pass that water through a small filter, and a laboratory can sequence the DNA  it caught. One sample, collected from the bank in under ten minutes, can identify dozens of species without seeing, netting or handling a single animal. Multiply this by 100,000, and we help preserve our waters for future generations.

01 Water is filtered on site; the filter traps genetic material.
02 The lab extracts DNA and sequences several targeted assays — vertebrates, invertebrates, amphibians, plants and algae.
03 Sequences are matched against reference libraries and published to the public atlas.
HOW IT WORKS

Four steps, one afternoon at the water.

Reaches are pre-selected by a stratified national design. You choose where along the reach to stand — always from the bank, never in the water.

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Claim anytime. Sample only when the reach is open. Local conditions always override the online status.
TWO WAYS TO TAKE PART

Claim a Survey Reach

Take a reach from the national sampling design. Kits and laboratory analysis are covered by program funding during the pilot. Your sample becomes part of the nationally representative dataset.

Browse available reaches →

Sample my own stream

Have a creek behind the school, or a river your watershed group already monitors? Purchase a kit, follow the same protocol, and your results join the public Community Atlas.

Order a kit →

The pilot opens this year.

5,000 reaches will be sampled before the national release, to test reach selection, public access, water-condition closures and laboratory throughput. Join the list and we will tell you when streams are available to claim.