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Researchers using environmental DNA must engage ethically with Indigenous communities

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The study of environmental DNA can reveal information about the history and presence of Indigenous communities on their lands — potentially even inadvertently. Better engagement with the ethical aspects of environmental DNA research is required in the field as a whole, and especially for researchers working on Indigenous lands.

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Fig. 1: Birthing trees.

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Acknowledgements

We, especially L.R., acknowledge the many Aboriginal women they have discussed these matters with and from whom they have learned a great deal. Funding for this project was provided by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015). E.K. and L.S.W. are also supported by Australian Research Council Future Fellowships (FT160100093 and FT180100407, respectively). M.H.-D. is supported by a Westpac Future Leaders scholarship. We also thank the participants in the Penn State Bioethics Colloquium for their feedback on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Matilda Handsley-Davis & Laura S. Weyrich

  2. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

    Matilda Handsley-Davis, Emma Kowal, Lynette Russell & Laura S. Weyrich

  3. Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Emma Kowal

  4. Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Lynette Russell

  5. Department of Anthropology and Huck Institutes of Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Laura S. Weyrich

Authors
  1. Matilda Handsley-Davis
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  2. Emma Kowal
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  3. Lynette Russell
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  4. Laura S. Weyrich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura S. Weyrich.

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Handsley-Davis, M., Kowal, E., Russell, L. et al. Researchers using environmental DNA must engage ethically with Indigenous communities. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 146–148 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01351-6

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