Open science methods for building perennial agroecosystems in Palestine

Event details

Speaker Bio

Omar Tesdell is Assistant Professor of Geography at Birzeit University and Principal Investigator of Makaneyyat, a research group in Ramallah, Palestine. His research focuses on agro-ecological and landscape change in the Middle East and North America. He conducts extensive field research on agro-biodiversity, the built environment, and polycultural production systems. With colleagues in his research group, he also works to conserve wild food plants. They published a open-science guide to Palestinian Wild Food Plants in 2018. Recent articles have appeared in Journal of Arid Enviroments, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, and Geoforum. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography and Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Minnesota in the United States.

Abstract

The Makaneyyat research group is working to study and build durable agroecosystems at the landscape scale in Palestine. I will discuss our team’s evolving open science methodology which combines field surveys, interviews, spatial analysis, germ plasm collection, candidate crop selection, and in situ restoration work among others. This work takes place within a challenging context in Palestine so I look forward to discussing it with colleagues around the world.

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