The Picker ISI has awarded Damhnait McHugh, professor of biology, an Interdisciplinary Training in Research Grant of $4300. She will spend several weeks during her sabbatical leave in fall 2026 working with experts in the NSF-funded ancient biomolecular lab in New York City to become proficient in ancient DNA analyses of marine shelled organisms. The AMNH AbLab is a unique multi-user space where hosts provide access to multiple types of equipment and consumable materials for on-site trainees. McHugh’s goal is to set up a clean space to work with ancient DNA at ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, to train her students in consistently successful techniques, and to provide preliminary data to support an upcoming NSF proposal that expands on a Picker-ISI funded research project with Paul Harnik (earth and environmental geosciences) and Rebecca Metzler (physics and astronomy). That project includes analysis of a DNA for historical population analyses of clams across spatial and temporal environmental gradients across the Gulf of Mexico.