Dr Emily M Breslin
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Profile

Biography

Emily is a geneticist with extensive experience working in ancient population genomics. As part of MEDGREENREV she will study the diachronic changes in genetic diversity and husbandry practices in key domestic livestock species in Iberia during the “Green Revolution” (6^th-16^th centuries CE). Her previous research has focussed on ancient human populations in west Europe from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to the Medieval period, spanning over 20,000 years.

Career

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of York, 2025-present

Studying Medieval Iberian livestock species through the “Green Revolution” (6^th-16^th centuries CE) using ancient DNA.

Postdoctoral Researcher, Trinity College Dublin, 2023-2025

Studied imputation methods, archaic ancestry, and Palaeolithic European populations within the ERC project ArchaicAdapt Supervisor: Prof Emilia Huerta-Sánchez.

Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Trinity College Dublin, 2022-2023

Supervisor: Prof. Dan Bradley

PhD in Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, 2017-2022.

Thesis title: Stasis and Flux: A genomic study of 20,000 years of European prehistory. Supervisor: Prof. Dan Bradley.

B.A. (Mod) Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, 2013-2017

Thesis title: Exploration of gene therapies for inherited retinal degenerations. Supervisor: Prof Jane Farrar

Research

Overview

Emily specialises in the extraction, sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis of ancient genomic data. Her previous work has included successful recovery of ancient DNA from human populations spanning over 20,000 years of European prehistory. She has particular experience in the recovery of ancient DNA from highly degraded remains, genotype imputation methods, and kinship analysis. As part of MEDGREENREV she will be expanding her expertise to study key livestock species (cattle, sheep, and goat) in Iberia between the 6^th and 16^th centuries CE. This period of changing political control saw massive changes in agrarian and animal husbandry practices. The analysis of ancient DNA from animals throughout this period, and across a number of sites in Iberia, will illuminate the changing population structure and admixture history of these herds.

Projects

MEDGREENREV is an ERC-funded project led jointly by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Prof. H. Kirchner), the University of Granada (Dr G. García-Contreras), the University of Reading (prof. A. Pluskowski) and the University of York (Prof. M. Alexander). Titled Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6^th-16^th centuries), this research focuses on the impact of political, religious and social changes on environmental conditions, agrarian practices and settlement patterns from a wide chronological and geographic point of view including Iberia, the Balearic Islands and northern Africa. The project brings together a large number of archaeologists and scientists with different expertise that allow to integrate diverse proxies such as archaeobotanical materials, human and animal osteoarchaeological remains and soil samples for a long-term overview.

External activities

Memberships

European Association of Archaeologists (EAA)

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)