BioScan workshop

During October, we held a workshop for pupils of the extracurricular biology program at Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski Primary School in Ivanec. We introduced them to the diversity and unique characteristics of cave-dwelling animals, along with basic laboratory techniques in DNA analysis (DNA isolation, PCR amplification and DNA barcoding). We complemented the taxonomic and molecular part with fieldwork, where pupils searched for and observed cave animals in their natural habitat. The fieldwork took place in the Vindija Cave, a natural monument and an important archaeological and paleontological site, which added broader significance to the workshop.

The workshop was funded by the BIOSCAN project “Understudied Biodiversity in the Depths of the Dinarides”, supported by the European consortium Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE).