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ORE 653: Ocean Instrumentation and Technology is a graduate-level course in the Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering.
Over a 16-week semester, students design and construct a novel ocean instrument whose requirements are provided by guest scientists or community members who have sponsored the project.
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<aside> 💡 Have an idea for a future class project?
Submit it here: Interest Form for Sponsorship of ORE 653 Class Project
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<aside> 🌴 Want to support this effort?
Read more about it here: https://pagniello-lab.github.io/SEA-CARE.html
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For Spring 2026, students designed a low-cost, eDNA Modular On-site DNA Encapsulator (MODE) for monitoring biodiversity in high-energy environments. Sponsored by Dr. Lenaïg Hemery from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) provided the students with design criteria which included (1) providing extra durability and ruggedization; (2) enabling easy and safe deployment and recovery; (3) allowing easy and safe maintenance, including straightforward swapping of filters, reagents, and batteries; (4) offer inglong battery life and reagent shelf life; (5) supporting long-term, on-board sample storage and preservation; (6) achieving quick sample pumping so that collections can be completed within short slack-tide windows; and (7) enabling concurrent triplicate sampling.
Funding was provided by the 4th Mānoa Strategic Investment Initiative, the Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering and the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) Dean’s Office.
Slides from Final Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UBqKMnHeI5nhpuHkyexdRthqQjtWTWv9Ji4h8PTp7fI/edit?usp=sharing
Build Guides and Software: https://github.com/pagniello-lab/eDNAsampler-ORE653
Abstract:
Environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers are in situ, autonomous water filtration systems that are designed to collect genetic material within the water column, enabling species detection in the lab. While there are over 20 eDNA samplers currently available, none offer a combination of high filtration rate, robust housing, self-preserving technology, and the capacity to collect replicate samples. We will present the design of the eDNA MODE (Modular On-site DNA Encapsulator), an open-source eDNA sampler for deployment in high energy environments that aims to address these limitations. eDNA MODE leverages low-cost, off-the-shelf components to enable the filtration of 1 L triplicates in under 6 minutes (i.e., 1 L per 2 minutes) followed by immediate on-board preservation. In collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), we hope to deploy eDNA MODE at Sequim Bay, where tidal flows reach a peak current speed of up to 2 m/s in a 12 m deep channel, to assess the impacts of marine renewable energy on marine ecology.
Final Presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ckMYITQfk