Systems and methods for operating an aquatic robot. The methods comprise: autonomously propelling the aquatic robot through a body of water to a location where a water sample is to be obtained; and performing operations by the aquatic robot to autonomously collect the water sample, cause the water sample to flow through a filter that retains eDNA, lyses and releases the eDNA to a create a lysate, process the lysate to obtain a product for eDNA sequencing, generate eDNA sequencing data using the product, and communicate the eDNA sequencing data to a remote external device.