Marine Geosciences Department Makes Strong Showing at Israel Geological Society Annual Conference

Last week, our Marine Geosciences Department had a strong presence at the Annual Conference of the Israel Geological Society, held at the Yearim Hotel.

The conference brought together researchers—both early-career and experienced—from across Israel, mainly geologists, but not exclusively. Faculty and students from the University of Haifa were proud to see both current and former students actively contributing to the conference, presenting their work across a range of marine geology topics—from sediment transport and coastal erosion to salt tectonics and plate dynamics.

Special recognition goes to our students who excelled in the 3-Minute Speed Talk competition. Orly Babitsky won 1st prize and Aleksandra Mironovich earned 4th prize for their outstanding presentations.

The University of Haifa delegation included Prof. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, Prof. Nicolas Waldmann, Prof. Regina Katzman, Prof. Yizhaq Makovsky, Dr. Jaijel Roy, Dr. Guy Lang, Dr. Hitisha Baroliya, Thomai Anagnostoudi, Amir Bar, Orly Babitsky, Aleksandra Mironovich, Xiongjie Zhou, Xioran Geng, Jarden Aaltonen-Yariv, Dafna Eliyahou, Geffen Tabachnik, and Elana Lottner.

Presentations and posters included:

Talks:

  • Prof. Nicolas Waldmann: Late Holocene Climate, Human Activities, and Environmental Dynamics in the Southern Arabian Desert
  • Thomai Anagnostoudi (Mimi): Salt-related gravity-driven processes in the Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Amir Bar: Beachrock along the Mediterranean Coast of Israel: Types, Formations, Depositional Environments and their Use in ancient times

Posters:

  • Orly Babitsky: Artificial Islands and Their Impact on Mainland Coastlines
  • Aleksandra Mironovich: Microfossil Evidence of Mediterranean Sea-Level Variability from the Shelf’s Edge
  • Dr. Hitisha Baroliya: A Baseline for Recognizing Change: Diversity and Biogeography of the Maldives Atolls’ Shallow Water Foraminifera
  • Xiongjie Zhou: Reservoir induced seismicity
  • Xioran Geng and Xiongjie Zhou: Effective Medium Modelling of CH4 Bubbles in Aquatic Muds for Improved Acoustic Gassy Sediment Characterization
  • Jarden Aaltonen-Yariv: Put Your Records On: Channel vs. Plateau depositional variability offshore southeastern Mediterranean
  • Dafna Eliyahou: An Observational Study of Munition Transport and Burial Dynamics in Marine Environments
  • Geffen Tabachnik: Seismic Activity and Turbidite Deposition in the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat: Insights from Sediment Core Analysis
  • Dr. Guy Lang: Beyond Backstripping: A New Approach for Subsidence Analysis
  • Dr. Guy Lang: Last Glacial Cycle Sea-level Imprints on the Israeli Continental Shelf
  • Elana Lottner: Assessing the Origin of Inland Sandy Sediment Cover within Archaeological Contexts at Caesarea Israel

These diverse presentations showcased the department’s research excellence and the unique marine perspective that our researchers bring to geological studies in Israel.

We extend our congratulations to all participants and especially to our prize winners for representing marine geosciences with excellence and passion!