YEREVAN, Armenia — During the week of October 13, Dr. Arsen Gasparyan, assistant professor at the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) Zaven P. and Sonia Zakian College of Science and Engineering and biodiversity expert at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, hosted his project partners from Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum (BGBM) of Freie Universität Berlin, one of the world’s leading institutions in plant, algae, and fungal research. This initiative was held as part of the Afeyan Family Foundation-funded “eDNA Metabarcoding to Advance Fungal Research” project that Dr. Gasparyan leads.
The week kicked off with a seminar at AUA titled “Exploring the Amazing World of Lichens and Fungi,” which featured distinguished scientists from BGBM, including Dr. Robert Lücking, head of the Department of Evolution and Biodiversity, as well as Dr. Bibiana Moncada and Dr. René Jarling, curators of lichens and fungi at BGBM. The talk can be viewed here.
From October 14 to 17, Dr. Gasparyan led joint fieldwork in Dilijan National Park with BGBM colleagues, in collaboration with scientists from the Institute of Botany after A. Takhtajyan at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. The research team collected lichens, fungi, soil, and bark samples for environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, aiming to advance fungal biodiversity assessment methods. This partnership marks a significant step toward advancing fungal research and biodiversity conservation in Armenia, bridging traditional taxonomy with modern molecular approaches.
The project also involved Elen Markosyan (BSESS ’28), a sophomore student in AUA’s Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences program, who received hands-on training in field sampling techniques. Later this year, Dr. Gasparyan and Markosyan will travel to Berlin to learn about molecular laboratory techniques and participate in the analysis of collected samples at BGBM.
The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, a research center of the American University of Armenia (AUA), promotes the protection and restoration of the natural environment through research, education, and community outreach. The AUA Acopian Center’s focus areas include sustainable natural resource management, biodiversity protection and conservation, greening the built environment, sustainable energy, as well as information technology and the environment. Visit ace.aua.am.
