Aran’s is an M.Sc. student studying the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) as a tool for biodiversity assessment. He will be using new molecular and bioinformatic methods (mainly metabarcoding) form small fragments of DNA in sea water, to get valuable information on the species richness and diversity in the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat in the northern Red Sea. His study will focus on a large range of taxonomic groups and will attempt to profile the biodiversity along a depth gradient in the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. Aran is also interested in compering eDNA metabarcoding to traditional survey methods, for evaluating the strengths and biases in this new state of the art survey method.