Unearthing soil biodiversity through collaborative genomic research and education

BioDIGS Consortium; Tristen Alberts¹, Claude F Albritton², Rosa Alcazar³, Zainab Aljabri⁴, Maria Alvarez⁵, Anish Aradhey⁶, Mentewab Ayalew⁷, Nareh Azizian⁸, Yasmeen Balayah⁴, Destiny D Ball², Efren Barragan⁵, Corey Beshoar⁶, Lyle Best⁹, Emily Biggane¹⁰, Joseph Biggane¹¹, Jesse Blick⁴, Myron Blosser⁶, Alex Kenneth Brown¹², Michael C Campbell¹³, Zoe Canizares¹⁴, Faith N Chanhuhwa⁵, Yu Chen¹⁵, Daniel R Chin¹⁶, Kamal Chowdhury¹⁷, Tyler Collins¹⁸, Blair Compton¹⁹, Jefferson Da Silva²⁰, Nia R Davis²¹, Natalie DeCaro²², Frida Delgadillo²³, Youping Deng¹⁵, Joceph Duncan²⁴, Arinzechukwu C Egwu²⁵, Grace D Ekalle²⁰, Noha Elnawam²⁴, Ray Enke¹⁹, Naomi Ewhe²⁰, Marco A Ferrel⁵, Janna Fierst²⁶, Grace Freymiller³, Karla Fuller²⁷, Lena Fulton-Wright⁶, Valeriya Gaysinskaya¹⁸, Torrence Gill¹², Ellie Gillespie⁴, Perla Gonzalez Moreno²⁸, Sara Goodwin²⁹, Natajha Graham²¹, Madeline E Graham³⁰, Joseph L Graves Jr³¹, Emily Grob³², Rachael Gutierrez³, Aisha Hager⁴, Shazia Tabassum Hakim³³, Aaliyah Harris³⁴, Ava M Hoffman³⁵, Tobias Hoffmann²¹, Alani M Horton²⁵, Allison Hughes¹¹, Elizabeth M Humphries³⁶, Josh-Samuel Ikechi-Konkwo⁵, Aadil Ishtiaq¹⁴, Ryan Jackson¹⁹, Joshua Ronnie James¹², Kaitlan James³³, Sydney A Jamison², Armando Jimenez²³, Rachel Johnson²⁰, Abigail Kauffman⁶, Harkiran Kaur³, Kritika Kc²⁰, Analyse Keeton⁴, Olivia E Kelly⁵, Jennifer Kerr²⁰, Nataliya Kucher¹⁸, Donna Lee Kuehu¹⁵, Wendy A Larson¹¹, Joslynn Lee²², Andrew Lee³⁷, Jeffrey T Leek³⁶, Danilo Lemaic¹⁹, Lincoln E Liburd 2nd², Alan Fernando Lopez³, Mohammadamin Mahmanzar¹⁵, Karwitha Mamae⁴, Raffi Manjikian¹⁴, Michael Marone²⁵, Katerin Marquez¹⁴, Amara Martinson¹, Senem Mavruk Eskipehlivan²⁹, Ashley Medrano¹⁴, Melanie Melendrez-Vallard⁴, Robert Meller³⁸, Loyda B Méndez³⁹, Miguel P Mendez Gonzalez⁴⁰, Nicolli Mesquita³⁴, Concepcion Martinez Miller⁴¹, Isam Mohd-Ibrahim¹⁵, Peter Mortensen¹, Stephen Mosher¹⁸, Alketa Muja¹⁴, Nadia Nasrin³⁴, Masaki Nasu¹⁵, Matthew H Nguyen¹⁸, Ba Thong Nguyen¹⁵, Michele Nishiguchi²⁸, Lance M O'Connor¹⁸, Disomi Okie²⁰, Tolulope Olowookorun²⁰, Alex Ostrovsky¹⁸, Keyan Ozuna²³, Asmita Pandey¹⁵, Shiv B Patel², Gauri Paul³, Shrikant Pawar¹⁷, Andrea Pearson³⁸, Deborah Petrik⁴², Jordan Platero²², Carl Pontino⁴³, Arjun P Pratap², Siddharth Pratap², Yujia Qin¹⁵, Sudhir Kumar Rai¹⁵, Nisttha Ray²⁰, Ethan Repesh¹⁹, Kristen Rhinehardt³¹, Brennan Roche¹¹, Ariana Rodriguez²⁰, Shriya Roy⁴⁴, Sourav Roy²³, Alexa Sawa⁴⁵, Michael C Schatz⁴⁶, Shurjo K Sen⁴⁷, Randon Serikawa³⁶, Tyler Smith⁴⁸, Loraye Smith²⁰, James Sniezek⁴⁹, Ryley D Stewart⁵, Edu B Suarez-Martinez⁵⁰, Joelle Taganna³⁶, Frederick J Tan¹⁸, Nikolaos Tsotakos⁵¹, Nwanneka Udolisa²⁰, Katherine Ulbricht²¹, Tanner Veo¹, Jennifer Vessio¹⁸, Lia Walker¹², Oscar Wang⁶, Qingguo Wang², Robert Wappel²⁹, Kalynn Wesby¹⁷, Malachi Whitford³, Nicole Wild¹¹, Xianfa Xie⁵², Hua Yang¹⁵, Sayumi York²⁰, Lindsay Zirkle¹⁹

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

BioDIGS Consortium:
Jefferson Da Silva, Senem Mavruk Eskipehlivan, Lindsay Zirkle

Affiliations

¹ United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND, USA.
² Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA.
³ Clovis Community College, Fresno, CA, USA.
⁴ Anoka Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids, MN, USA.
⁵ El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX, USA.
⁶ Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
⁷ Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA. mayalew@spelman.edu.
⁸ Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁹ Turtle Mountain Community College, Belcourt, ND, USA.
¹⁰ United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND, USA. ebiggane@uttc.edu.
¹¹ University of Mary, Bismarck, ND, USA.
¹² Chowan University, Murfreesboro, NC, USA.
¹³ University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Hudson County Community College, Jersey City, NJ, USA.
¹⁵ University of Hawaii - Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
¹⁶ University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA.
¹⁷ Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC, USA.
¹⁸ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹⁹ James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
²⁰ Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
²¹ Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA.
²² Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, USA.
²³ University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.
²⁴ Northern VA Community College- Alexandria, Annandale, VA, USA.
²⁵ Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA.
²⁶ Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
²⁷ Guttman Community College, New York, NY, USA. karla.fuller@guttman.cuny.edu.
²⁸ University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
²⁹ Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
³⁰ Towson University, Towson, MD, USA.
³¹ North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA.
³² Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³³ Diné College, Tsaile, AZ, USA.
³⁴ Guttman Community College, New York, NY, USA.
³⁵ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA. ahoffma2@fredhutch.org.
³⁶ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
³⁷ Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
³⁸ Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
³⁹ Universidad Ana G. Méndez - Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
⁴⁰ University of Puerto Rico - Aguadilla, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
⁴¹ Dona Ana Community College, Las Cruces, NM, USA.
⁴² Northeast State University of Oklahoma, Tahlequah, OK, USA.
⁴³ University of Washington - Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴⁴ Citrus Valley High School, Redlands, CA, USA.
⁴⁵ College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA, USA.
⁴⁶ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. michael.schatz@gmail.com.
⁴⁷ National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴⁸ College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD, USA.
⁴⁹ University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁵⁰ University of Puerto Rico - Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
⁵¹ Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA, USA.
⁵² Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA. xxie@vsu.edu.

PMID: 41461908
PMCID: PMC12799090
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02442-5

Unearthing soil biodiversity through collaborative genomic research and education

BioDIGS Consortium et al. Nat Genet. 2026 Jan.

. 2026 Jan;58(1):3-8.

doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02442-5.

Authors

Collaborators

BioDIGS Consortium:
Jefferson Da Silva, Senem Mavruk Eskipehlivan, Lindsay Zirkle

Affiliations

¹ United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND, USA.
² Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA.
³ Clovis Community College, Fresno, CA, USA.
⁴ Anoka Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids, MN, USA.
⁵ El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX, USA.
⁶ Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
⁷ Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA. mayalew@spelman.edu.
⁸ Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁹ Turtle Mountain Community College, Belcourt, ND, USA.
¹⁰ United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND, USA. ebiggane@uttc.edu.
¹¹ University of Mary, Bismarck, ND, USA.
¹² Chowan University, Murfreesboro, NC, USA.
¹³ University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Hudson County Community College, Jersey City, NJ, USA.
¹⁵ University of Hawaii - Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
¹⁶ University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA.
¹⁷ Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC, USA.
¹⁸ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹⁹ James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
²⁰ Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
²¹ Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA.
²² Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, USA.
²³ University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.
²⁴ Northern VA Community College- Alexandria, Annandale, VA, USA.
²⁵ Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA.
²⁶ Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
²⁷ Guttman Community College, New York, NY, USA. karla.fuller@guttman.cuny.edu.
²⁸ University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
²⁹ Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
³⁰ Towson University, Towson, MD, USA.
³¹ North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA.
³² Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³³ Diné College, Tsaile, AZ, USA.
³⁴ Guttman Community College, New York, NY, USA.
³⁵ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA. ahoffma2@fredhutch.org.
³⁶ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
³⁷ Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
³⁸ Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
³⁹ Universidad Ana G. Méndez - Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
⁴⁰ University of Puerto Rico - Aguadilla, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
⁴¹ Dona Ana Community College, Las Cruces, NM, USA.
⁴² Northeast State University of Oklahoma, Tahlequah, OK, USA.
⁴³ University of Washington - Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴⁴ Citrus Valley High School, Redlands, CA, USA.
⁴⁵ College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA, USA.
⁴⁶ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. michael.schatz@gmail.com.
⁴⁷ National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴⁸ College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD, USA.
⁴⁹ University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁵⁰ University of Puerto Rico - Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
⁵¹ Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA, USA.
⁵² Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA. xxie@vsu.edu.

PMID: 41461908
PMCID: PMC12799090
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02442-5

Abstract

The BioDIGS project is a nationwide initiative involving students, researchers and educators across more than 40 research and teaching institutions. Participants lead sample collection, computational analysis and results interpretation to understand the relationships between the soil microbiome, environment and health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: M.C.S. is on the scientific advisory board for CosmosID/cmBio. BioDIGS has received preferred pricing from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1 |. BioDIGS project overview.**
BioDIGS is an innovative research initiative aimed at understanding the interconnection between the environment, natural resources and public health. This collaborative project will lead to advancements in soil-based research, while at the same time providing training opportunities within this research space for genomics scholars. BioDIGS is an outgrowth of the GDSCN, which works toward a vision in which all researchers, educators and students are able to fully participate in genomic data science. Logos are reproduced with permission from Galaxy Project, Bioconductor and NHGRI AnVIL Project.

**Fig. 2 |. BioDIGS community engagement.**
Top, map of collection sites as of February 2025. The institutions involved in sample collection include ten 2-year institutions (2 year), three 4-year institutions (4 year), five primarily undergraduate institutions with a limited number of graduate programs (4+ year), two graduate-only institutions (Graduate), three R2 research institutions (4+ year R2), three R1 research institutions (4+ year R1), and two Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) as classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. There are also two R1 institutions that serve as coordinating centers. Bottom, sample of environments profiled. Participating faculty and students have chosen a variety of environments for sampling, including urban, rural and agricultural areas. Top row from left to right includes: Minnesota (Anoka Ramsey Community College), California (Clovis Community College), New Jersey (Guttman Community College), Virginia (James Madison University), Georgia (Spelman College), Texas (University of Texas - El Paso) and Colorado (Fort Lewis College). Bottom row from left to right includes: Virginia (Virginia State University), Georgia (Claflin University, SC), Texas (El Paso Community College), North Dakota (United Tribes Technical College), Virginia (Northern Virginia Community College), Tennessee (Meharry Medical College) and California (University of California Merced). Images of additional sampling locations can be found on the sampling map at the biodigs.org website. Imagery ©2025, Map data ©2025 Google, INEGI.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Unearthing soil biodiversity through collaborative genomic research and education

Collaborators

Affiliations

Unearthing soil biodiversity through collaborative genomic research and education

Authors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources