About Trace
Built to empower the people protecting our natural world.
We’re a UK-based environmental DNA company on a mission to make molecular monitoring affordable, accessible, and actionable for everyone from water companies to citizen scientists.
Molecular monitoring for everyone.
The tools to understand and protect biodiversity have too often been locked behind specialist expertise and expensive equipment. We built Trace to change that.
We provide eDNA monitoring services that are genuinely usable, by conservation organisations, ecological consultancies, local authorities, citizen scientists, and water companies alike.
We believe that better ecological data, in more hands, more quickly, leads to better outcomes for nature.
Accessibility
Easy-to-use kits, plain-English reports, and pricing that makes catchment-scale monitoring possible for organisations of all sizes.
Partnership
We work with clients to design surveys that answer the right questions, and we explain what the results mean.
Sustainability
Minimal single-use plastics in our kits. Biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable materials used wherever technically possible.
Founded
2023
Caldicot, Wales
Data generated
30+
Taxonomic groups per sample
Services
3+
Aquatic & terrestrial
Years Experience
20+
Across our science team
Our story
How we got here.
2022
The idea takes shape
Frustrated by the cost, complexity, and slow turnaround of existing eDNA providers, our founders began developing a more accessible approach to molecular monitoring.
2023
Trace Biomonitoring is founded
Incorporated in Wales, Trace launches with its first service, bacterial source tracking, working with early clients in the water sector to validate methods and build the reference libraries that underpin our analysis.
2023–2024
Expanding the service portfolio
Diatom assessment and whole-ecosystem biodiversity eDNA services are developed and validated, alongside our first generation of sampling kits. Pilot projects run across the UK with water companies, NGOs, and ecological consultancies.
2024–2025
Going beyond water
Soil eDNA and bulk invertebrate metabarcoding extend our reach into terrestrial environments, allowing us to support biodiversity baseline surveys, nature recovery monitoring, and EIA evidence gathering across terrestrial landscapes as well as watercourses.
Today
Growing with purpose
We continue to expand our team, our methods, and our partnerships, always guided by the same principle: the best ecological science should be in the hands of everyone working to protect the natural world.
Credentials & quality
Science you can stand behind.
High-quality labs
All sequencing performed in commercial laboratories by experienced eDNA scientists.
Peer-reviewed methods
All analytical approaches are based on published, peer-reviewed methodologies with internal validation.
4–6 week turnaround
Consistent turnaround from sample receipt to final report. Urgent timelines available on request.
UK reference libraries
Source attribution and species detection supported by UK-specific reference databases built from local samples.
The team
Scientists who understand your challenges.
Work with us
Ready to get started?
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll discuss your project and send a no-obligation quote.