Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The analysis and the paper are led by the stellar Erik Curtis, who was an undergraduate when he started this project and got the work through publication! Isn't it amazing when you help train an undergrad and they are so successful? 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026This is another example of why treating eDNA as a single, homogeneous thing can be misleading. The profile of eDNA matters. In this case, particle size changed how strongly environmental conditions affected its removal. 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It turns out that: 🍂 The leaves themselves didn’t significantly change eDNA removal. 💧 The dissolved organic carbon released by the leaves didn’t appear to be an important driver either. 🦠 But once those leaves became colonized by biofilms, eDNA removal increased for the smallest eDNA particles. 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026With northern hemisphere autumn/fall right here, the trees changing color, and leaves starting to fall 🍂🍁... have you ever wondered what impact those leaves might have on environmental DNA (eDNA) 🧬? We just published a study looking at exactly that! + doi.org/10.1021/acse...doi.orgEnvironmental DNA Removal is Mediated by Decomposing Leaf Litter in StreamsAbstract. Understanding what controls eDNA removal from the water column remains a critical challenge for interpreting eDNA results in flowing waters. Allo 152
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Building trust in eDNA isn't just about demonstrating that the method works. It's also about building a community of practitioners whose methods, judgment, and limitations are transparent. If you were one of the 476 people who responded to our survey, thank you for sharing your perspective! 😁 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026What we found was interesting: skepticism changes with experience, but it doesn't disappear. Instead, trust in the method becomes intertwined with trust in the researchers applying it. And this isn't necessarily a problem. It's a common feature of how emerging scientific methods become trusted. 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026We asked 476 people from 33 countries, with different levels of experience with eDNA, what makes them trust or question eDNA evidence. Two concerns stood out: how we interpret eDNA data, especially abundance, and methodological rigor. 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Have you met an eDNA skeptic? 🧬 I seem to encounter them often as grant reviewers 📜. So we assembled a team of social scientists and eDNA scientists and dug deeper into what is actually behind that skepticism.doi.orgEmbracing Environmental <fc>DNA</fc> (<fc>eDNA</fc>): Trust, Skepticism, and Competence in an Emerging MethodTrust in eDNA is fundamentally relational. Survey results show that experience increases perceived validity and usefulness while transforming skepticism into more nuanced evaluation, highlighting the... 162
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Abstracts for the Global #eDNA conference at due this Friday! Get yours in, y`all! Early bird registrations also go until the end of July. Come on up! 033
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Yeah people have to be careful about the hype train. It is important to be conscious of the limitations of every method. But balance is important as well. There are limitations inherent to any scientific inference/method suddenly getting associated with eDNA only. Also, remember your NTCs! 000
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Birding yesterday at forest edge: Me: "Oh, no... oh, no. It's an Enpid...It is small... small haeaded... greyish. Not a Western then. I guess let's check the length of the wing relative to the..." Bird: "Peer!!" Me: "Oh, Hammond. Thanks fing God" Learning the flycatcher calls gives back :) 000
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 22/05/2026I maintain that every Canadian I’ve ever met has been incredibly nice. This one🪿, however, hissed at me from a nest under a bridge I couldn’t even reach, so it has been excluded from the dataset. #birdingwhilecommuting 050
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 22/05/2026Yay! Another mainstream‑media article covering a scientific study! 😀 Nay! Another article that doesn’t cite the paper, doesn’t link it, and doesn’t even say which study it’s talking about. 🫠 How is this still not standard practice?! 010
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Lol not with the conflicts of interest 100
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Y'all, my review paper has been under review for 6 months. It will be born obsolete.💀 Please say yes if you get it for peer review. Meanwhile I have reviewed 6 papers already this year. I am doing my half. Yes, it sucks we have to do it for free and then pay to publish among so much else. But plz? 241
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 18/05/2026This weekend I witnessed Wilson's Phalarope famous whirlpool feeding!! Spin spin spin! Roadside #birding ftw 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Here at #SFS2026 in Spokane! Looking forward to meeting people and catching up with others! Come on down to my three talks on -eDNA haplotypes -Caddisflies and GMOs -Land-water monitoring with eDNA from the air and water 040
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Would abolishing capitalism ultimately benefit wildlife and biodiversity, or would the social and economic instability of such a transition cause greater long-term ecological harm? 111
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 17/05/2026The one time I went there I got stuck in the immigration line for 4 hours. Luckily my connection was 4:30 hours. You missing any connections or reaping the benefits of beeing from São Paulo? 100
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Damn, nice!!! How much of this is equipment though 210
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Neat work. One question: because eDNA represents a mixture of DNA from multiple individuals, how would you distinguish a signal produced by true hybrids from one produced by a sympatric population containing both parental species? 100
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 05/05/2026I will be giving three (!!!) talks at SFS in a couple of weeks. It sounded like a great idea 3 months ago. Sadly though they put my #haplotype talk at the same time as other very cool #eDNA session. Lame. 030
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Lol thanks. No eDNA on this one though. We tried :( 120
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 16/04/2026This remains to be the best comic ever made. Just had another one of these moments today. @mrlovenstein.bsky.social 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 16/04/2026I cannot post my slides on Canvas because *checks 📝* that DECREASES the accessibility score of my class on canvas. That is because the canvas software has a hard time reading slides and assigns it 0 accessibility. The only solution is to not post them. The world is backwards in 1 additional way 🙃 000
Reposted by Pedro Brandão-Dias F PintoRafael Marcondes @rafamarcondes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026As the end of the semester approaches and I feel overwhelmed even with my exceptionally light class load, I'm reminded of the old saying, "Work inevitable expands to occupy the entirety of the time allotted to it" 1121
Reposted by Pedro Brandão-Dias F PintoScott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026What is “#pseudopersistence”? It refers to contaminants like pharmaceuticals or pesticides with short environmental half lives that are continuously observed in ecosystems due to constant replacement from a source. In this case, Cry proteins leach year round from GE crops & detritus. (2/3)media.tenor.comrows of corn plants growing in a field on a sunny dayALT: rows of corn plants growing in a field on a sunny day 141
Reposted by Pedro Brandão-Dias F PintoScott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026New paper led by #RiceUniversity undergrad Ethan Bull & former PhD student @pedrobd.bsky.social in collaboration with @notredamescience.bsky.social assessing the role of a pseudopersistant contaminant, Cry1Ab leaching from GE crops, on aquatic caddisflies. @entsocamerica.bsky.social (1/3) 1153
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Transgenic crops release Cry proteins into streams. But what does that mean for aquatic insects?🌱💧🐛 We measured and barcoded 1,800+ caddisflies across 25 streams. Environmental factors like temperature, land use explained most patterns. Cry1Ab had limited impact. academic.oup.com/ee/article/5...academic.oup.comAssessing morphological, developmental, and genetic responses of Hydropsychid caddisflies to Cry1Ab exposureAbstract. Transgenic crops expressing Cry proteins are widely cultivated to reduce crop damage from insect pests. However, Cry proteins can leach from tran 3258
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 20/03/2026Same!!! I legitimately do not understand it. I think it was just some idea some top executive had and everyone had to nod along not to get fired or something. I will choose a journal over another simply because it does not have graphical abstracts. 120
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 19/03/2026Nothing like spending several hours running an alternative statistical method/ different mathematical approach only to find the exact same answer.✖️ Yes, I should be happy. But it feels a bit like wasted time lol 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Seems less likely to gaslight me than ChatGPT. Would be willing to try. 000
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Am I allowed to complain if the journal sat on my paper for 3 months and rejected it without sending it to reviewers because the editor felt like it? Name and shame? The journal is Biological Reviews. 010
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Our eDNA survey has a US defaultism problem. 🌎 We started getting mysterious "Country" responses like "Jefferson" and "Maricopa." Turns out people read "Country" and thought "County" which... only makes sense if you assume everyone is American. We did this to ourselves.🤣 030
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 07/03/2026Me when I look at my old classes / presentation slides that I proudly presented to a room full of scientists / students at some pointmedia.tenor.coma man in a red suit and tie is wearing sunglasses and a red jacket .ALT: a man in a red suit and tie is wearing sunglasses and a red jacket . 010
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Being In an interdisciplinary field, it is easy to feel dumb because you are a "jack of all trades, master of none" But that feel is greatly improved when you learn this sentence is often misquoted. The full version is: "jack of all trades, master of none, but often better than a master of one"🎃 093
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Whales in a bottle of water? Yes… through eDNA. 🌊🐋 Nice feature on our research and the UW eDNA Collaborative by the Packard Foundation. @ednacollab.bsky.social Learn more here: www.packard.org/insights/gra... www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0H8... #eDNA #scicom #science #outreachyoutube.comeDNA is Changing the Way We See the OceanYouTube video by The Packard Foundation 0177
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 13/02/2026🧬 My haplotype paper is out! We show that deviations between within-sample and population-level haplotype frequencies can be used to estimate how many individuals contributed to an eDNA sample. No tissue references needed, just metabarcoding data and some population genetics. #eDNA #PopGenonlinelibrary.wiley.comEstimating Organism Abundance Using Within‐Sample Haplotype Frequencies of eDNA DataEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) provides powerful insights into species presence and community composition but remains limited in its capacity to infer species abundance or population structure. Here, we sh... 25219
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Of course! Why did I expect it to be simple? 😂 210
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Imagine the great quotes we would get if Darwin had to code! 020
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 12/02/2026I would see these guys on campus emerging out of the suspected N. valhalla twigs :) 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 07/02/2026😂 right on! Luckily no Pikachu or Arrokuda hit me in the making of this video. 110
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 06/02/2026The blue throat and the display of the Brandt's cormorants are pretty amazing. #birding 5597
Pedro Brandão-Dias F Pinto @pedrobd.bsky.social · 06/02/2026Try working with 12S! It is a nightmare out here. People insist on metabarcoding with 12S. I cry "no, please, no, I cannot annotate these!" But the cries are unheard. Family-level annotations follow; Complaints come! But what can I do? 1 SNP separates two paraphiletic genera. And pseudogenes... 110