TEAM MEMBERS
BETİ MİNKİN
Project Director (2006-2012)
Consultant (2012 - Present)
President, Anatolia Foundation (2006- August 2021)
Sustainable Agriculture/ Organic Product Development / Ecotourism
Born in Istanbul, Beti Minkin spent most of her adult life in the US as a student and practitioner of a holistic approach to wellness and nutrition. She periodically returned to her native country to conduct sustainable agriculture projects in rural Anatolia. Her projects aim to revive and promote disappearing local seeds and artisanal products. She co-founded eco-farms and organized eco- tourism. Her most recent project in the remote Kars region of Turkey was internationally recognized (2010 One World Award) for the revival of the ancient grain Emmer (Triticum dicoccum). The project also included ethnobotanical research and herbal product development with rural women.
NEJDET DAŞDEMİR
Local Project Coordiantor
Born in Istanbul, Beti Minkin spent most of her adult life in the US as a student and practitioner of a holistic approach to wellness and nutrition. She periodically returned to her native country to conduct sustainable agriculture projects in rural Anatolia. Her projects aim to revive and promote disappearing local seeds and artisanal products. She co-founded eco-farms and organized eco- tourism. Her most recent project in the remote Kars region of Turkey was internationally recognized (2010 One World Award) for the revival of the ancient grain Emmer (Triticum dicoccum). The project also included ethnobotanical research and herbal product development with rural women.
NEJDET DAŞDEMİR
Local Project Coordiantor
An agriculturalist, Nejdet Dasdemir is a local of Kars and the President of Kars Natural Product Growers Association. He is the present coordinator of the emmer revival project and supervises the organic certification program. He is also a dedicated beekeeper involved with traditional honey production.
Prof. Dr. NERIMAN ÖZHATAY
Istanbul University
Department of Pharmaceutical Botany
Prof. Dr. NERIMAN ÖZHATAY
Istanbul University
Department of Pharmaceutical Botany
A foremost botanist, Prof. Dr. Neriman Özhatay headed the Kars Flora research project during 2007-2008. Close to 500 plant taxons were identified scientifically under her supervision.They included Ligularia sibirica, an endangered plant under protection according to the International Bern Convention.
Dr. FATMA GÜNEŞ
Kafkas University, Department of Botany
Botanical Project Coordinator
Fatma Güneş was an assistant professor of Botanics at Kars Kafkas University (KAU) when she joined the project. She coordinated the botanical aspects of the project with her students. They started a herbarium with plants identified during field works. Students also developed an ethnobotanical inventory with the information they received from village elders.
Dr. VINOD KUMAR
Ayurveda Doctor,
Medicinal Herbs and Wellness Workshops
Dr. VINOD KUMAR
Ayurveda Doctor,
Medicinal Herbs and Wellness Workshops
Dr. Vinod Kumar is an accomplished botanist and Ayurveda practitioner from Kerala, India. He joined the project to assist with flora identification and medicinal product formulation. He also initiated wellness workshops with village women who started using, for the first time, their local plants for food and healing purposes.
TİJEN İNALTONG
Food Culture
TİJEN İNALTONG
Food Culture
An inspirational cookbook author and food columnist, Tijen Inaltong led the Food Culture aspect of the project. She cooked with village women, collecting over a hundred recipes and covering the unique food customs of the region in the Turkish media.
MUHAMMET TEKİN
Medicinal Plants
MUHAMMET TEKİN
Medicinal Plants
Muhammet Tekin joined the project with substantive knowledge in medicinal plant usage. He presented a workshop to village women on product formulation from medicinal plants of the surrounding flora.