Laurence Dugal is currently undertaking a PhD in marine science at the University of Western Australia, where she also completed Bachelor and Honours degrees. Her research focuses on applying environmental DNA metabarcoding techniques to study marine ecosystems in NW Western Australia by tracking the genetic material left behind by a range of organisms. Part of her research involves the detection of coral biodiversity from shallow coral atoll systems using environmental samples, and she is especially interested in comparing these diversity estimates to deeper Ashmore reef communities.
