Water bodies are a rich source of suspended environmental DNA (eDNA) and recent work has demonstrated that this source includes DNA shed by macrofauna in addition to that of living microbes. This aquatic ’macrobial’ eDNA can provide evidence that a given organism is present and may also provide information about population or biomass density. As one part of my PhD research (University of Notre Dame, USA) on genetic monitoring of aquatic macrofauna using eDNA I am investigating the relationship between fish abundance and eDNA abundance. In this presentation I will discuss some findings and some methods for optimizing this relatively new approach to genetic monitoring. I will additionally discuss some new aquatic eDNA work just beginning in our research group that will utilize a metagenetic/metabarcoding approach with next-generation sequencing.