ARETI aims to strengthen collaborations and synergies between different institutions and organisations in Cyprus and abroad, including the Cyprus Institute, The Cyprus Agricultural Research Institute, The Smurfit Institute of Genetics as well as several NGOs such as BirdLife Cyprus and the Cyprus Natural History Museum. By uniting scholars from different disciplines, cattle breeders and local policy makers, educators and schoolchildren, the project aims to create growth prospects for the island and tackle challenges for future economic and social development.
Anna Spyrou (ARETI’s Principal Investigator)– STARC, The Cyprus Institute, a.spyrou@cyi.ac.cy
Anna has a Bachelor degree in Archaeology and History of Art from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and an MSc in Environmental Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL). Her first postdoctoral project, at the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) focused on cattle management practices in Neolithic and Bronze Age Cyprus. Anna is interested in the different ways Zooarchaeology can move beyond its strict academic boundaries to engage the wider public, including local communities, famers, and young children and contribute to a sustainable future.
Georgia Hadjipavlou (Collaborator)– Agricultural Research Institute,ghadjipavlou@ari.moa.gov.cy
Georgia Hadjipavlou has received BSc and MSc Degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from Brandeis University, U.S.A., and a PhD in Cell, Animal and Population Biology (Quantitative Genetics) from the University of Edinburgh, U.K. Georgia is the Head of Animal Breeding and Genetics Unit at the Department of Animal Production of the Agricultural Research Institute in Cyprus. Georgia’s research endeavors within ARETI focus on developing and implementing genomic approaches for creating breed-specific genomic profiles for tracing animal-derived products, and for genomic management of biodiversity in the local Cyprus cattle population.
Daniel Bradley (Collaborator)-The Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin, dbradley@tcd.ie
Daniel Bradley is specialised on population genetics and leads the Smurfit Institute of Genetics laboratory, at Trinity College, Dublin. Together with his research team, professor Bradley is researching ancient genomes of cattle, sheep and goat. Professor Bradley’s laboratory sequenced the first aurochs’ genome, providing evidence for wild introgression in the ancestry of European domesticates. In 2020, he has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for his project entitled, AncestralWeave, which focuses on investigating ancient genomes of cattle, sheep and goat, with the goal of better understanding when and where selective breeding, agricultural practices and periods of ancient human innovation shaped the breeds.
