Overview
From 2016-2026, I served as the Francis J. DiSalvo Director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, after serving as the founding director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative. I will remain a Cornell professor through May 2027.
I have conducted research on a wide variety of vectors of invasive species, including ships, boats, canals, and commerce in life food, pets and plants. With numerous collaborators, I have studied Eurasian watermilfoil, rusty crayfish, zebra and quagga mussels, and Asian carp and many other species. My research focuses on ecological forecasting to better inform environmental risk assessment, policy development, and natural resource management.
On numerous occasions I testified before the U.S. Congress, and served as an expert witness in federal court. I served as the first chair of the U.S. government’s national Invasive Species Advisory Committee in 2000-01, led research on freshwater biodiversity as part of the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2000-05, and led an expert subcommittee providing advice to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on reducing invasions from the ballast water of ships in 2010-11. I served as a member of the scientific advisory boards of NOAA and the International Joint Commission, and as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. Department of State in 2014-15. I have collaborated with economists, historians, theologians, and philosophers, and have extensive experience partnering with NGOs, corporations and government agencies to co-create and co-execute research agendas.
Research Focus
Current research focuses on technical advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) for biodiversity assessment, and its accelerated adoption in management and policy.
Publications
• Andres KJ, TD Lambert, DM Lodge, J Andres, and JR Jackson. 2022. Combining sampling gears to optimally inventory species highlights the efficiency of eDNA metabarcoding. Environmental DNA DOI: 10.1002/edn3.366
• Lodge, DM. 2022. Policy action needed to unlock eDNA potential. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 20(8):448-449. DOI 10.1002/fee.2563
• Andres KJ, DM Lodge, SA Sethi, and J Andres. 2023. Detecting and analyzing intraspecific genetic variation with eDNA: from population genetics to species abundance. Molecular Ecology DOI: 10.1111/mec.17031
• Andres J, P Czechowksi, E Grey, M Saebi, K Andres, C Brown, N Chawla, JJ Corbett, R Brys, P Cassey, N Correa, MR Deveney, SP Egan, JP Fisher, Rv Hooff, CR Knapp, SCY Leong, BJ Neilson, EM Paolucci, ME Pfrender, MR Pochardt, TAA Prowse, SS Rumrill, C Scianni, F Sylvester, MN Tamburri, TW Therriault, DCJ Yeo, DM Lodge. 2023. Environment and shipping drive environmental DNA beta-diversity among commercial ports. Molecular Ecology DOI: 10.1111/mec.16888
• Szydlowski DK, AK Elgin, DM Lodge, JS Tiemann, and ER Larson. 2023. Long-term macrophyte and snail community responses to population declines of invasive rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus). Ecological Applications 33:e2818 https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2818
• Andres K, DM Lodge, SA Sethi, and J Andres. 2023. Environmental DNA reveals genetic diversity and population structure of an invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. PNAS 120(37) https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2307345120
• Kelly RP, DM Lodge, KN Lee, S Theroux, AJ Sepulveda, CA Scholin and 30 other authors. 2024. Toward a national eDNA strategy for the United States. Environmental DNA DOI: 10.1002/edn3.432
• Lodge DM. 2024. Conservation in a litre of air. Molecular Ecology Resources 24(1) https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/doi/10.1111/1755-0998.13883
• Lodge DM. 2024. Lessons learned from eDNA adoption in the management of bigheaded carps in Chicago IL USA Area Waterways. Environmental DNA 6(2) https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/doi/10.1002/edn3.528
• Sawyer EK, TA Kreps, DM Lodge, and ER Larson. 2025. Long-term declines in body size of the invasive rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) in temperate lakes. Freshwater Biology (70(1)
• Howeth JG, SA Amjad, CA Gantz, NE Mandrak, PL Angermeier, MP Marchetti, JD Olden, and DM Lodge. 2025. Predicting invasiveness of freshwater fishes imported into North America: regional differences in models and outcomes. Biological Invasions 27(4) DOI 10.1007/s10530-025-03560-1
• Lodge, DM, C Scholin, and E. Demir-Hilton. 2025. Leveraging eDNA to accelerate energy development. ECO Magazine (Marine Technology Society). Summer 2025.
• Li, Z, CL Ramon, S Bogdanowicz, AL Koeberle, D Wang, FJ Rueda, EA Cowen, MT Walter, SA Sethi, DM Lodge, D Luo, and JA Andres. 2026. Tracing environmental DNA transport in a large lake with synthetic DNA microparticicles and hydrodynamic modeling. Environmental Science & Technology 60: 3519-3531.
