I'm interested in biodiversity change across space and time. My work sits between data science and ecology - I apply DNA-based methods to make sense of the oceans. Ultimately my goal is healthier future seas, through reconstructing prehistoric baselines, developing advanced ecosystem-health tools, and a curiosity-driven research programme.
What can we learn about the climate-culture-biodiversity nexus from ancient marine eDNA? When and where do humans have the largest impact? How can climate interact with these impacts? Is biodiversity a result or a driver of anthropogenic and climatic change?
How have invasive species, fishing, pollution, habitat and climate change impacted modern communities? Can we detect and attribute change from the deep sea to the tropics to the poles?
What forces create bio-regionalisation in the oceans? Does it even make sense to slice up the sea according to biology? What new perspectives can an eDNA tree-of-life approach provide to intractable questions in marine ecology?
Can we develop new methods in molecular biology and bioinformatics to help us make sense of eDNA data? How do these methods compare to our previous best for bio-monitoring?
A selection of my research, newest first — each title links through to the paper. The full list lives on Google Scholar.
Metabarcoding replicate detection frequency tracks ddPCR copy number for cod and herring eDNA in ancient marine sediments — Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2026. Led by Elena Baños, a PhD candidate I co-supervise: shows that how often a species is detected across metabarcoding replicates tracks absolute eDNA concentrations measured by ddPCR, opening a route to quantitative reconstructions of fish populations from ancient seabed sediments.
Fine-scale oceanographic processes shape marine biodiversity patterns inferred from environmental DNA in the Galápagos Islands — Diversity and Distributions, 2026. Combines eDNA metabarcoding with physical oceanography across the Galápagos archipelago to show that fine-scale ocean processes structure marine biodiversity, even across short distances in one of the world's most iconic marine reserves.
Shifting seas: understanding deep-time human impacts on marine ecosystems — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2025. I led the guest-editor team for this 16-article theme issue of the Royal Society's flagship biology journal; the opening article synthesises how humans have shaped marine ecosystems over thousands of years.
Ancient environmental DNA indicates limited human impact on marine biodiversity in pre-industrial Iceland — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2025. Uses ancient eDNA from marine sediment cores spanning over 3,000 years to show limited human impact on marine biodiversity around Iceland before the industrial era.
Navigating past oceans: comparing metabarcoding and metagenomics of marine ancient sediment environmental DNA — Molecular Ecology Resources, 2025. Benchmarks the two leading approaches for recovering ancient DNA from seabed sediments to reconstruct past ocean life.
Early pastoralism in Central European forests: insights from ancient environmental genomics — Current Biology, 2024. Led by Giulia Zampirolo: uses ancient DNA preserved in sediments to track the early spread of herding across Central Europe.
ngsLCA: a toolkit for fast and flexible lowest common ancestor inference and taxonomic profiling of metagenomic data — Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2022. A widely-used bioinformatics tool, led by Yucheng Wang, for assigning taxonomy to metagenomic and ancient-DNA datasets.
Managing human-mediated range shifts: understanding spatial, temporal and genetic variation in marine non-native species — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2022. Shows how eDNA can be used for temporal, spatial, and haplotype analyses of non-native marine species spread, and what that means for management.
How does eDNA decay affect metabarcoding experiments? — Environmental DNA, 2022. Shows how the breakdown of DNA in the environment shapes metabarcoding results, with direct consequences for how surveys are designed and interpreted.
Animals, protists and bacteria share marine biogeographic patterns — Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2021. In a flagship Nature-family journal: uses eDNA across the tree of life to reveal that animals, protists and bacteria follow strikingly similar large-scale patterns across the ocean.
Detection of introduced and resident marine species using environmental DNA metabarcoding of sediment and water — Scientific Reports, 2019. A foundational study showing that eDNA from sediment and water can detect both established and newly arrived marine species — a practical basis for biodiversity surveillance.
Optimising the detection of marine taxonomic richness using environmental DNA metabarcoding: the effects of filter material, pore size and extraction method — Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, 2018. Led by Kristy Deiner: an influential early methods study on how filter material, pore size and extraction method shape what eDNA surveys can detect.
How can science inspire and develop new artistic research and works? How can art help science be understood, or generate entirely new ways of thinking in science?
I'm fascinated by these questions and work to integrate artists and artistic perspectives into my science.
For example, in 2023 and 2024 Rhoda Ting and Mikkel Bojesen explored our eDNA data from the Skagerrak to produce a series of speculative sculptures and public works that question the nature of species and ask how new life may emerge in the future.
More recently, I have been developing SPARK, an art–science initiative at the Globe Institute run in collaboration with Art Hub Copenhagen. It brings together artists and scientists to develop new artistic works that help communicate science, ask new questions, and develop new ways of understanding.
Get me @ luke.holman (at) sund (dot) ku (dot) dk