Sarah Lawrence College Students Conduct Research at CURB

by Jason Muller - Educator & River Ecology Specialist

During the fall semester of 2025, Sarah Lawrence College students Caitie McCabe and Maria Cecconello Lucas conducted research at CURB focusing on eDNA and Hudson River seining. Caitie’s research was part of an independent study with Biology Professor Dr. Michelle Hersh, while Maria participated in the college’s EmbeddEd course.

Caitie’s research focused on expanding our eDNA sampling, which processes Hudson River water samples to identify the presence of fish DNA. Maria assisted Caitie with this work, while also helping staff with our Hudson River seining sessions. Both students worked in CURB’s lab to filter the eDNA water samples, and then they took the samples to campus to complete the PCR analysis and identify the DNA.

Please see below for Caitie’s data summary poster which explains the sampling process and summarizes results. A zoomed in version of the PCR results are above.

Here is Maria’s poster summarizing our 2025 Hudson River seining season.

Thanks to both students for their hard work and for contributing to CURB’s research!