Natalie Schmitt, PhD
What if we could use the barest of traces wildlife leave behind to tell us what they need in real time? Over ten years, Nat has transformed a solo lab project into an instantly deployable DNA detection platform that confirms species from tissue, water, or scat in under 20 minutes. Now being used by CBSA to stop illegal eel imports, the test, administered by minimally trained CBSA agents in under a minute replaces testing that previously required 6 weeks, samples shipped to BC, and significantly higher costs. Other applications are now being scaled globally with partners from Mexico to South Africa and Japan. An associated AI-powered tool slashes genetic assay development from months to minutes, combining to democratize access to conservation science. From securing NSERC funding to building cross-continental collaborations, Nat’s tireless determination has offered up a solution that can enhance protected species protection world-wide, or be used for other applications such as food provenance testing or even sepsis detection and strain identification at minimal cost before you can count to 1,000.
