Annual Report 2025

Inside a Year of Conservation at the Kartzinel Lab

Conservation science is changing fast—but the realities of how our work gets done are rarely shared.

To mark the end of 2025, the Kartzinel Lab published its first Annual Report to openly document what it takes to connect modern genomic tools with the front lines of conservation: crossing landscapes, institutions, and communities amid growing uncertainty for scientific research.

👉 Read our 2025 Annual Report
​Transparency. Impact. Opportunity.​

This report is not a highlight reel. It is a clear account of how research, training, partnerships, and funding come together—or fall apart—at a time when biodiversity loss is accelerating and the decision about how to act can’t wait.

Whether you are considering funding, collaborating, or joining in our work, this report is designed to help you understand how we operate, what we prioritize, and where engagement can make a difference.

Why We Published Our First Annual Report

Most academic reporting happens behind closed doors—submitted to agencies, universities, or specific funders. But conservation does not happen in isolation, and neither should accountability.

We prepared the Kartzinel Lab’s first Annual Report to publicly share how our program works as a whole: how ideas come to life, how data supports decision-makers, and how people—students, staff, collaborators, and supporters—make the most high-impact outcomes possible.

At a moment when biodiversity loss is accelerating and traditional research funding is increasingly uncertain, we believe openness is essential. This report reflects our commitment to clear communication, responsible stewardship, and shared progress.

What This Report Is (and Is Not)

This report is:

• A transparent look at how a modern, high-end conservation lab operates
• A reflection on what enables impact—and what limits it
• A record of collective efforts made across institutions, countries, and communities

It is not:

• An in-depth retrospective about a single grant
• A marketing brochure
• A substitute for meaningful engagement in conversation

Instead, it is meant to support your thoughtful decisions about whether and how partner, invest, and participate in our programming. 

What's Inside

Conservation in Practice: What it's like to apply genomic tools directly in the field—across iconic protected areas, long-term ecological research sites, and biodiversity hotspots facing rapid environmental change.

People Behind the Science: How students, postdocs, staff, and community partners contribute to shared outcomes—and why investing in people is so central to strategy for conservation success.

Innovation with Purpose: How new technologies, data pipelines, and field-based sequencing protocols are reshaping what conservation science can achieve by lowering the historical barriers to access in the areas where the information is needed most. 

Challenges We Don’t Ignore: A candid discussion of funding uncertainty, capacity constraints, and the trade-offs we have to navigate in our commitment to sustaining high-impact research and training programs.

Looking Forward: How our new approaches—embodied in the Genomic Opportunities Lab—are designed to broaden participation, diversify our sources of support, and keep our conservation research connected to the world beyond traditional academic boundaries.

​With Thanks—and an Open Invitation

Every page of this report reflects the sum of the trust, effort, and generosity we find in our broad community. We are deeply grateful to those who supported the work described here and to those who would consider joining us.

We invite you to read, question, share, and reach out.

👉 Open the 2025 Kartzinel Lab Annual Report
👉 Explore ways to partner, support, or get involved