Visit of AFISHE Working Group to Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA
January 26, 2023
On January 26, a familiarization visit was organized for the European partners of AFISHE project, accompanied by Sargis Aghayan, Director of Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA, Bardukh Gabrielyan, Head of Hydroecology and Ichthyology Laboratory, Garegin Hambardzumyan, AFISHE Coordinator, Arusyak Harutyunyan, ISEC Coordinator of AFISHE project. Lana Karlova, NEO Armenia, was also part of the delegation.
Sargis Aghayan, Director of Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA, presented to the visitors research activities conducted by the scientific center, which is an effective base for experimental parasitology and other zoological research. Experimental researches devoted to the most important questions of biodiversity, zoology and parasitology of theoretical and practical importance are carried out here, effective and ecologically safe ways of combating agricultural pests are tested.
Bardukh Gabrielyan, Head of Hydroecology and Ichthyology Laboratory, organized for the working group an interesting familiarization visit to the Center's infrastructure and the Zoological Museum of Armenia, which carries out scientific, historical and cognitive functions.
The members of the delegation were impressed by the samples available in the laboratories of the Center and especially in the Zoological Museum of Armenia, where the extinct species of the Armenian nature and those still living in nature are kept for more than a century. The specimens on display in the museum are wild animals that are collected during fieldwork and scientific research, and the skin sculptor develops and restores the original appearance.
For the internationalization of the museum, projects are submitted to various international structures and in parallel, the exhibits are supplemented with new species of animals. Darievsky's shield-headed viper, which is red-listed, is presented here, the samples of Armenian vipers have also been updated. In 2021, the zoological museum opened the exhibition hall of animals living today, where there are more than 550 specimens of vertebrates and more than 1200 specimens of invertebrates, various types of reptiles and fish.
Scientific and educational programs are implemented in the museum for university students, and they also work with regional schools. During the year, students regularly visit the museum to get acquainted with unique exhibits of animals.
Sargis Aghayan, Director of Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA, assured that the infrastructures established in the center will create favorable conditions for the implementation and improvement of master's programs in the direction of aquaculture and fish farms, which will meet the requirements of the labor market and modern society, higher education and the latest standards of the national quality framework.
Public Relations and Career Department of ISEC NAS RA
