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by Vincent Battesti

The al-ʿUlā DPA Project — Ethnographic, genetic, and morphometric analyses of the date palm agrobiodiversity in al-ʿUlā oasis — has the ambition to add and converge expertises on the agrobiodiversity and history of the al-ʿUlā date palm in Saudi Arabia.
The researchers associated with the project, direct participants—in addition to the collaborations carried out with the other scientific projects under the AFALULA umbrella—are (co-PIs, then in alphabetical order):


– Vincent Battesti

Social anthropologist at CNRS in the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, co-PI of the project.


– Muriel Gros-Balthazard

Evolutionary biologist at IRD, research associate at NYU-Abu Dhabi, co-PI of the project.


– Muneera al-Mssallem

Assistant Professor at King Faisal University in Nutrition and Dietetics.


– Margot Besseiche

Doctoral student in genetics at Université de Montpellier.


– Yann Bourgeois

Evolutionary biologist, University of Portsmouth (UK)


– Matthieu Breil

former PhD student in genetics at Université de Montpellier (contrat CNRS).


– Sylvie Ferrand

Biological technician at New York University Abu Dhabi.


– Jonathan M. Flowers

Geneticist at New York University Abu Dhabi.


– Sarah Ivorra

Biological technician at Université de Montpellier.


– Nahed Mohammed

Biologist at KAUST.


– Michael Purugganan

Silver Professor of Biology at New York University Abu Dhabi.


– Jean-Frédéric Terral

Professor in biology at Université de Montpellier.


– Rod A. Wing

Professor in biology at KAUST, dir. of the Center for Desert Agriculture.