Short Presentation Australian Marine Sciences Association 2026 Conference

The GloMBO Partnership. Globalising Marine Biodiversity Observations: An eDNA Observing System for Ocean-Scale Monitoring using Autonomous eDNA sampling from Vessels of Opportunity (140187)

Pascal Craw 1 , Eric Raes 2
  1. CSIRO, Hobart
  2. Minderoo Foundation, Perth

Monitoring marine biodiversity at scale remains a major challenge due to the limits of traditional observing approaches. The GloMBO partnership between CSIRO and the Minderoo Foundation addresses this by combining autonomous environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling with vessels of opportunity, enabling sustained, large-scale biodiversity observations at scale.

This talk introduces the GloMBO Parnership and observing framework, including its automated sampling technology, standardised genomic workflows, and open data pipelines. Deployed on platforms such as Australia’s research vessel Investigator, GloMBO captures multi-trophic biodiversity data—from microbes to megafauna—at high spatial and temporal resolution.

We highlight how this approach transforms existing shipping operations into continuous biodiversity observatories, supports marine management and policy, and contributes to global biodiversity initiatives.