The primary purpose of the NRDPFC is for the benefit of wildlife management and, as such, it is a
non-profit organization. The Centre has been recognized by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation,
the Ontario Innovation Trust and the Canada Research Chairs program through the provision of funding
to establish robotic, high throughput, long-term genetic monitoring of natural populations.

Dr Bradley N. White has operated the Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory for over 11 years from its inception at Queen’s University, to McMaster University and its recent move to Trent University in 1997. The Forensic Laboratory has established a large number of DNA databases for the application of DNA markers to wildlife forensics and these databases have been further applied to wildlife population studies on species such as moose and white-tailed deer.

As a result of these applications to wildlife management, the Forensic Laboratory has expanded its mandate in the past five years to include studies involving species such as wolves, moose, deer, black bears, caribou and elk. Dr White has also studied the genetics of endangered and threatened species such as the Puerto Rican Parrot, the North Atlantic Right Whale, the St Lawrence Estuary beluga
whale population and the wood poppy.

The productive relationship of the facility with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) and other government agencies such as Environment Canada, including Parks Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, warranted the establishment
of a research and forensic service centre: the Natural Resources DNA Profiling & Forensic Centre (NRDPFC). The NRDPFC is a partnership between the OMNR, Trent University and the Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory. Furthermore the expertise of the Forensic Laboratory has been utilised through consultation by government and private sector companies including the Centre of Forensic Science, Toronto, Ontario; Research Productivity Council, New Brunswick; Serotech Laboratories, Hamilton, Ontario; Bovican, Saskatchewan; ARC – ANPI (Animal Nutrition and Animal Products Institute), South Africa. Most recently, the direction of the NRDPFC into automation has resulted in
the formation of industrial partnerships with companies such as Maxxam Analytics, CRS Automated Solutions and Lab-Interlink.

The Centre undertakes research on natural populations of animals and plants for the purpose of providing information to managers charged with conserving biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable
use of Canada’s biological resources. The NRDPFC is presently involved in collaborations to produce DNA profiling data bases on a number of Ontario species, including caribou, moose, white-tailed deer, wolves, black bears and elk. The majority of these species have been listed as indicator species and flagged as a major component in developing adaptive management strategies particularly in examining the sustainable use of Ontario forests.

The same automated capacity will also service the analysis of large numbers of fish from a wide range of species involved in projects through the OMNR Fish Genetic and Stock Assessment and newer developments in applications such as tree genetics for enforcement and management. The Centre’s DNA data will help assess the impacts of habitat use at the level of genetic diversity and will be integrated with satellite global positioning data in geographic information systems (GIS) for novel approaches to analyzing natural populations: the emerging field of Landscape Genetics.

The Centre is also co-ordinating the development of courses, educational and training programs at
Trent University and Sir Sanford Fleming College in the Genetic Applications of Natural Resources
and DNA Forensic Science.