eDNA Explorer: Downloading the biosphere

Creating a digital simulacrum of the world is such an intriguing concept that many of us still wonder what it would have been like had a sequel to The Matrix had ever been made. Can you imagine the cinematic followup to a movie which explored the simulation hypothesis, transcending your physical body, and looking cool in your junior year of high school? I mean, that’s material alone for one, two, or even three more movies which in no way would have been disappointing.

Speaking of The Matrix, we now live in a world, which thanks to cheap DNA sequencing and computational power, is awash in an unprecedented amount of ecological data. Now what? Come on by CRASH Space and learn about some of the latest research in molecular and computational ecology, and how it can be used to help us make sense of the world. Or, at the very least, you’ll be able to better work the phrase ‘molecular and computational ecology’ into a sentence.

When

2 – 3:30pm Saturday November 4th

Where

(In person) CRASH Space: 10526 Venice Blvd Culver City CA 90232

(Online) https://meet.google.com/vir-pfjy-uzp

About the speaker

Ariel Levi Simons is a postdoctoral researcher working with UC Santa Cruz. His work involves tying together data from sources as varied as DNA fragments, cellphone photos, and satellite imagery in order to monitor ecosystems.