Bridging Wildlife, Ecosystems & Human Wellbeing

Answering these questions, and much more will be Dr David Duffy. Not only is he a board member of WRI, but he also has a B.A. in natural sciences from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He earned his Ph.D. in zoology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and held postdoctoral and research fellow positions at University College Dublin’s Systems Biology Ireland, the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory and Bangor University’s Environment Centre Wales. He has held faculty positions at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, where he is an Assistant Professor of Wildlife Disease Genomics. His lab applies One Health principles, genomics, and experimental approaches to animal and human health and disease. He also uses environmental DNA (eDNA) for biodiversity, habitat health and ecological monitoring, and for pathogen surveillance and endangered species detection. This includes aquatic, sediment and air based eDNA approaches. His eDNA genomics field research spans from Ireland to the US and Galapagos, with a particular focus on sea turtles and whole biodiversity approaches.

Along with David, we will also be joined by Bogna Griffin, a marine biologist with expertise in aquatic conservation, molecular biology, and environmental DNA (eDNA) applications. She holds a Master's in Conservation Medicine of Aquatic Animals and a BSc in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology. Since 2019, she has worked as a Scientific & Technical Officer at the Marine Institute, Galway, Ireland, leading the National Crayfish Plague Surveillance Programme.