Canada’s permafrost and coastal marine sediments hold extraordinary archives of environmental DNA, preserving deep records of past ecosystems over hundreds of thousands of years. Yet most of the DNA workflows we use to study these deposits remain inefficient and variable, with the vast majority of preserved molecules never making it into sequencing libraries. This limits our ability to reconstruct how ecosystems responded to major climatic transitions and to use those long-term records to inform conservation and climate adaptation today.
Through an NSERC Alliance grant, researchers at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and the Hakai Institute are launching a coordinated program to:
Improve sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) methods for both terrestrial permafrost and marine sediments
Reconstruct long-term terrestrial and marine ecosystem dynamics across the Quaternary in Canada
Build the Canadian Ancient DNA (Can-aDNA) Network, a national community linking ancient DNA labs and practitioners across the country
This Alliance will strengthen Canada’s capacity in palaeogenomics, generate high-resolution records of past biodiversity change, and create a platform for open, collaborative method development and training.
What we’re doing — and why it matters
Ancient DNA science has transformed our ability to reconstruct past environments and evolutionary histories. But in most ancient sediment samples, >99.9% of DNA is microbial, while the tiny fraction of target DNA is damaged, mineral-bound, and mixed with chemical inhibitors. Large portions of that already-scarce signal are lost at every step of standard workflows (desorption, purification, library prep, ligation, etc.), leaving much of the palaeoecological information in sediments effectively inaccessible.
At the same time, Canada’s high-latitude ecosystems are already experiencing rapid warming, biodiversity loss, shifting species ranges, and changes in ocean chemistry and circulation. To understand and anticipate how ecosystems will respond, we need deep time baselines that span multiple glacial–interglacial cycles and capture past episodes of warming, cooling, and ecological reorganization.
Our Alliance project tackles these challenges through two main objectives:
Objective 1 – Expanding sedaDNA capabilities across terrestrial and marine archives
Experimentally optimize sedaDNA workflows at each stage (extraction, inhibitor removal, library preparation, capture enrichment, metagenomic analysis) for Arctic permafrost and deep marine sediments.
Apply these improved methods to key archives, including long permafrost sequences in Yukon and marine cores from the Pacific Northwest, to reconstruct how plants, animals, fungi, and microbes responded to major environmental transitions.
Objective 2 – Building the Canadian Ancient DNA (Can-aDNA) Network
Establish a national network that connects ancient DNA labs across Canada.
Create regular venues (virtual seminar series, annual in-person symposia, and an online forum) for labs to share method tests, troubleshooting, and comparative results that often remain “in house” and unpublished.
Standardize and cross-validate workflows, accelerate method development, and move more optimization work into the peer-reviewed literature and open protocols.
The overall goal is to unlock much more of the sedaDNA signal preserved in Canadian sediments, generate robust deep-time records of ecosystem change, and support evidence-based conservation and climate adaptation.
Partners, facilities, and training environment
This project is a formal collaboration between:
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre (McMaster University, Hamilton, ON) – one of North America’s leading palaeogenomics centres, with long-standing expertise in ancient DNA method development and high-throughput sequencing of diverse research programs.
Hakai Institute (Tula Foundation, Vancouver Island, BC) – home to a purpose-built ancient and environmental DNA genomics facility at a field station in the Discovery Islands designed to state-of-the-art clean-room standards, with on-site sequencing and a full suite of genomics processing and bioinformatic analysis instruments and resources.
Together with collaborators at the University of Alberta, Natural Resources Canada, Yukon Government, and partners across British Columbia and the Arctic, the Alliance offers a rich training environment combining field archives, ultra-clean wet labs, and advanced computational infrastructure.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion are important to the training and collaboration plan. The team works closely with First Nations partners in across Canada, follows OCAP and CARE principles, and is committed to inclusive recruitment and supportive environments for trainees from all backgrounds.
Postdoctoral Fellowships in Sedimentary Ancient DNA – Call for Applications
We are recruiting three full-time Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) to join this NSERC Alliance project. These positions will lead major components of the research program and help build the Canadian Ancient DNA Network.
Positions overview
We invite applications for three full-time Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF) positions associated with a new NSERC Alliance-funded collaboration between the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and the Hakai Institute (Tula Foundation). These positions will join a coordinated program to improve sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) methods and reconstruct past ecosystems from terrestrial permafrost and marine sediment archives, while helping to build the Canadian Ancient DNA (Can-aDNA) Network.
Each PDF will lead one of three research streams:
Permafrost sedaDNA (method development and palaeoecological reconstructions)
Marine sedaDNA (method development and palaeoecological reconstructions)
Computational / Bioinformatics (sedaDNA workflows, taxon identification, phylogenetics, palaeoecological modeling)
All three positions will be joint appointments between McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) and the Hakai Institute’s Ancient DNA Lab on Quadra Island, BC (Canada). PDFs will work closely with Dr. Hendrik Poinar (McMaster University) and Dr. Tyler Murchie (Hakai Institute), alongside collaborators Dr. Duane Froese (University of Alberta), Cooper Stacey (Natural Resources Canada), and partner institutions such as the Yukon Government, the University of Victoria, and the University of British Columbia.
Project overview
Our program aims to:
Experimentally improve and optimize sedaDNA workflows (extraction/purification, library preparation, capture enrichment, and metagenomic analysis) for terrestrial permafrost and marine sediments.
Use these improved methods to reconstruct long-term terrestrial and marine ecosystem dynamics across the Quaternary, focusing on Canadian relic permafrost deposits and Pacific marine cores around Vancouver Island and the Canadian Arctic.
Build the Canadian Ancient DNA (Can-aDNA) Network, a national platform for methodological sharing, training, and coordinated method comparisons and validation across Canadian ancient DNA labs.
Position 1: Permafrost sedaDNA Postdoctoral Fellow
Focus
Metagenomic analyses of terrestrial permafrost cores from the Yukon, Alaska, and other regions of northern Canada, using sedaDNA to reconstruct Quaternary ecosystems and test methodological optimizations for DNA recovery and authentication.
Example activities
Work with permafrost cores from Canadian permafrost archives, including subsampling, DNA extraction, library preparation, and capture enrichment under strict ancient DNA protocols.
Optimize workflows for DNA release from organo-mineral complexes, inhibitor removal, and library preparation efficiencies for highly degraded, low-abundance DNA.
Apply and refine targeted capture approaches for plants, vertebrates, and other taxa to reconstruct past ecosystems and ecological transitions, including building in-house baits.
Integrate sedaDNA results with stratigraphic, geochronologic, and palaeoenvironmental data to address questions about biodiversity change, extinction, and adaptation through glacial–interglacial cycles.
Position 2: Marine sedaDNA Postdoctoral Fellow
Focus
Marine sediment cores from Barkley Canyon (deep sea) and Saanich Inlet (nearshore, varved sediments), among other sites with available cores (such as Howe Sound and seamounts in Queen Charlotte Sound), to reconstruct long- and short-term marine biodiversity and food-web dynamics, and to develop improved marine sedaDNA protocols.
Example activities
Lead sedaDNA work on archived cores from the Institute for Ocean Sciences and related repositories, spanning the late Pleistocene and Holocene.
Combine DNA metabarcoding, ddPCR, and hybridization capture to track changes in plankton, macrophytes, and fish communities through time.
Link sedaDNA signals to known oceanographic records (e.g., productivity, oxygenation, carbon cycling) and physical core stratigraphy.
Help benchmark and refine marine sedaDNA workflows for broader use in palaeo-oceanography and conservation applications.
Position 3: Computational / Bioinformatics Postdoctoral Fellow
Focus
Cross-cutting analytics and method development across permafrost and marine components, with an emphasis on metagenomics, de novo assembly, classification accuracy, and reproducible and sensitive pipelines. Develop AI or machine learning classification tools for low read abundance data and model the accuracy and robustness of palaeoecological reconstructions (using serially sampled, temporally discrete isolates).
Example activities
Test and optimize pipelines for shotgun, capture-enriched, and metabarcoding sedaDNA data, including quality control, taxonomic assignment, phylogenetics, and community analyses.
Evaluate and compare metagenomic classifiers using simulated and empirical data to quantify false-positive and false-negative rates.
Explore machine-learning approaches for improved sedaDNA identification and ecological dynamics reconstructions.
Work with McMaster and Hakai’s in-house high-performance computing systems and bioinformatics teams to support the project’s analytical needs.
Responsibilities (all positions)
Postdoctoral Fellows will:
Lead an independent but collaborative research program within their thematic area (permafrost, marine, or bioinformatics), including experimental design, data generation, analysis, and manuscript preparation.
Mentor and collaborate with PhD candidates and other trainees working on related sedaDNA projects (1–2 PhD and/or MSc students).
Contribute to the Can-aDNA Network, including organizing and moderating online seminars, helping coordinate annual symposia, and engaging with the national community through the online forum.
Spend time at both the Hakai Institute Biodiversity Genomics facilities on Quadra Island, BC (near Campbell River, Vancouver Island) and McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario), and at other collaborating institutions as needed. On-site accommodations are available for researchers at Hakai.
Present research at national and international conferences and contribute to open, reproducible data and method sharing.
Qualifications
Required (all positions)
PhD (completed or near completion) in a relevant field such as ancient DNA, molecular ecology, biomolecular archaeology, evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, marine science, Quaternary science, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated experience with ancient or environmental DNA and/or high-throughput sequencing data, with contamination control for the wet-lab-heavy roles, or with large-scale sequence data analysis and pipelines for the bioinformatics role.
Strong quantitative, analytical, and writing skills, with evidence of peer-reviewed publications commensurate with career stage.
Ability to work collaboratively within a multi-institution, interdisciplinary team and to mentor junior trainees.
Preferred, position-specific
Permafrost PDF: Experience with permafrost, Quaternary geology, palaeoecology, or sedimentary archives; prior work with sedaDNA or ancient DNA strongly preferred.
Marine PDF: Background in marine ecology, oceanography, marine genomics, or sedimentary records; familiarity with metabarcoding, ddPCR, or marine monitoring data is an asset.
Bioinformatics PDF: Strong skills in programming (e.g., Python, R, Bash, machine learning), high-performance computing, and metagenomic analysis; prior work with classifier benchmarking or machine-learning approaches is an advantage.
We are committed to building an inclusive research environment and strongly encourage applications from members of equity-deserving and historically underrepresented groups.
Terms and compensation
Appointment length: 2 years (with the possibility of extension subject to funding and performance, in accordance with institutional policies).
Annual salary: CAD $70,000 plus benefits, provided in accordance with McMaster University guidelines.
Postdoctoral fellows will be employees of McMaster University, working closely with and spending time at the Hakai Institute.
Normal hours of work are 35 hours per week.
How to apply
Please submit the following as a single PDF file through McMaster’s MOSAIC system via the links below:
Cover letter (1–2 pages) describing:
Which position(s) you are applying for (Permafrost, Marine, Bioinformatics; you may indicate more than one in order of preference).
How your previous experience fits the project(s) and your research interests.
Your earliest possible start date and any constraints.
Curriculum vitae
Contact information for 2–3 referees (no letters required at the initial stage)
Application Links:
Review of applications will begin on February 24, 2026 and continue until the positions are filled.
For more information
Informal inquiries about the positions or the Alliance project are welcome and can be directed to:
Dr. Hendrik Poinar, McMaster Ancient DNA Centre <poinarh@mcmaster.ca>
Dr. Tyler Murchie, Hakai Institute / McMaster University <tyler.murchie@hakai.org>
