Odugbesan Oluwadamilare is a second-year Master’s degree student from Nigeria supervised by Prof. Michael Lazar, Head of the Applied Geophysics Laboratory at the Department of Marine Geosciences, and Prof. Uri Schattner, Head of SeisLab at the School of Environmental Sciences. Odugbesan is researching the contourites on the continental shelf of Western Galilee utilizing advanced geophysical and oceanographic methods. “The study will contribute valuable knowledge to the understanding of the Israel Levant Margin”, explains the student. “It will help to understand paleo-climate indicators, ocean circulation, seafloor hazards, as well as the sediment hydrodynamics”.

Odugbesan credits the Marine Geosciences Department with having the accessibility of resources and equipment, which has significantly supported his research efforts. “I chose the Department because marine exploration, which is my long-standing passion, has been a gap in my educational background,” he admits. “The Department has offered me numerous opportunities, including hands-on courses in sedimentology, time series signal analysis, geophysics, Geographic Information Systems, and computer programming. In my opinion, these courses equip students with essential skills, preparing them to excel in the global job market and become well-rounded scientists”.

Asked what helps him keep a balanced approach to his studies, Odugbesan says that socializing with friends and watching and playing football helps him relax. “The sport is an important component in managing academic stress”, he says. “The Department’s vibrant atmosphere also contributes to the flourishing of my research”. Odugbesan says that the Department is home to a diverse international community, bringing together students from various countries, religious backgrounds, and scientific disciplines. This diversity encourages students to exchange ideas, discuss science from multiple perspectives, and participate in extracurricular activities.

Odugbesan says that he plans to continue his academic journey by pursuing a PhD degree to further investigate sediment transport, building on his current research. “I aim to expand my focus beyond the ocean and to mesh up both terrestrial and oceanographic backgrounds, enhancing the understanding of sediment routing systems”.

Benjamin Ankiri, a first-year Master’s degree student supervised by Prof. Barak Herut and Dr. Eyal Rahav, takes part in a joint sailing of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea Centre – An Early-Warning Model-System for our Future Ocean. It is an international partnership between the Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, led by Prof. Ilana Berman-Frank, and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, led by Prof. Eric Achterberg.

“My Master’s research includes sampling the air and dyeing the samples to see which of the bacteria collected in the air are alive, and which are dead. The research cruise in which I participated was a perfect continuation of this work”, Benjamin says. “During the sailing, I continued the sampling; I also detected where the collected bacteria came from and took genetics and nutrients tests, which are critical for my research”.

Apart from Benjamin, Haifa’s team included Prof. Yizhaq Makovsky, Prof. Barak Herut, Dr. Tamar Guy-Haim (Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research), Dr. Or Bialik, Dr. Henriette Wilkins, and students Tom Reich, Merav Gilboa, Alon Blachinsky, and Winnie Bett. “It was an absolute honor for me to be a part of such team of professionals”, Benjamin admits. “I enjoyed exploring climate change’s impact on the oceans and navigating their future. Plus, this research cruise perfectly fit my hobby – I am a skipper and sail with my friends in my free time”.

However, open-air projects and interesting projects are not the only things Benjamin loves about the Department of Marine Geosciences. “I just love the Department community and the diversity among students – both in terms of scientific, social, and national background. I have heard a phrase once that perfectly describes such situation: our differences make our strength. So the Department is such a successful research and academic body exactly because it consists of such different people”.

Benjamin loves being in this community so much that he even contemplates continuing his studies beyond the Master’s level, planning to apply for a PhD position.

Parth Shah, a final year PhD student supervised by Prof. Nicolas Waldmann, is nearing the end of his doctoral studies and tries to expose his research as much as possible participating at various scientific conferences and publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research interests lie in multi-proxy multi-archive (lacustrine and marine) paleoclimate reconstruction with a special focus on understanding the impact of climate change on different components of the ecosystem.

Parth has presented his research at various scientific conferences like the International Meeting of Sedimentology (IAS) in 2023, the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) in 2023, the International Association of Limnogeology – International Paleolimnology Association (IAL-IPA) in 2022, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in 2022 and 2021, the Israel Geological Society (IGS) annual meeting 2022, and the Indian Quaternary Congress (IQC) in 2022.

“My PhD work interests the scientific community because it is innovative. It focuses on reconstructing the centennial-scale climate variability associated with changes in the intensity of the monsoon during the Holocene over the southern Arabian Desert”, Parth says. “My research highlights the utilization of elemental concentration, mineralogy, grain size analysis, TOC/TC measurements, and lipid biomarkers (alkanes) in conjunction with compound-specific isotopes (δ13C and δD) and ostracod assemblage (and isotopes δ13C and δ18O) on two lacustrine sites in Yemen”.

Xingyu Li, an international Master’s degree student supervised by the Head of the Department Prof. Revital Bookman, and Dr. Yael Segal from Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, participated in the 2023 Israeli Association for Aquatic Sciences Annual Meeting that took place on 11 February 2024 in Tel Aviv. Xingyu presented there his poster titled “Can the deep-sea settled plastic litter be resuspended? The investigation of the seafloor plastic bags from the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea.” He says he was excited to present his study at the large-scale conference attended by more than 300 scientists.

“Our research is part of the Israeli national monitoring program, in which the cruise took place offshore Israel to collect the bottom litter from the seafloor of the Levantine Basin. In our study, we aim to understand the transport trajectory of plastic wastes in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea”, the student says. “I am working on publishing the paper now. So far we have found that the deep Levant Basin is a sink for plastic waste, especially for plastic bags, the ratio of which among bottom litter is higher than that in any other seafloor of the Mediterranean Sea”.

Xingyu admits that studying at the Marine Geosciences Department inspires him in his research, especially its outdoor activities. “The most amazing part of my Master’s studies so far are the field trips and cruises”, he says. “I had so many “first times” here – my first time on the research ship, first multi-beam survey, first CTD collection, first time sailing with dolphins…”

Xingyu explains what else he likes about the Department. “The community here is kind and obliging. We are an international group with students from Israel, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, China and so on”, he says. “Also, the interdisciplinary perspective helps our department go to a more diverse and promising future. I am an unusual researcher with my first and second degrees in mechanical engineering, but I also have some experience in polymer analysis and experiments. That is why I was admitted into this multi-disciplinary project, crossing materials science, environmental strategy, oceanography, and microbiology”

Talking about his free time, Xingyu says that he is also a robot scientist, so reading papers and doing experiments compose most of his academic life. However, regular sports activities like basketball, ping-pong, and mount hiking are helping him to get energy for his future endeavors, one of which is securing a PhD position in Israel.

Elias Mizrahi, a second-year Master’s degree student supervised by the Head of the Department Prof. Revital Bookman, Dr. Nadya Teutsch (Geological Survey of Israel), and Dr. Tamar Guy-Haim (Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research), is working with zooplankton samples from Haifa Bay to measure concentrations of heavy metals. “It is a very important research”, Elias says. “I will examine concentrations of several heavy metals – Hg, Zn, Pb, Cd, and others – in subsamples of zooplankton sorted according to size fraction and taxa. I will also work with previously collected samples and perform stable isotope analyses (N and C) to assess the trophic web. It will all lead me to my goal”.

Asked what helps him in conducting such scrupulous research, Elias admits that what supports him is his wife, his family, and his faith in God. Additionally, his hobbies support him as well. “I love playing footvolley and soccer”, he says. “The sport is essential to keep our minds working well”.

Elias is excited about his project as much as he is excited about the Department of Marine Geosciences. “The Department has students from different backgrounds, nationalities, and religions”, he says. “What they have in common is the belief that education is the best way to have a promising future and that by working hard together, we will get there”.

Asked how recent tragic events in Israel affected him, Elias says that he tries to stay strong. “I am originally from Brazil and I had a good life there, but I left it to come, study, and work in Israel. I want to write a beautiful story of my life, and in all beautiful stories, we must go through challenging chapters and in the end, it will make us stronger and smarter. So these challenging events will not change my plans – after my Master’s studies in the Marine Geosciences Department, I want to do my PhD there working with the same topic I work with now.

Maya Haimson, a Master’s degree student at the Department of Marine Geosciences, is a volunteer in Etgarim Dive Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to diving with the disabled. Etgarim, which usually holds monthly dive activities in Eilat, continues its activity during these times. Maya shares her experience of participating in such a dive, commemorating the memory of a fallen IDF soldier. Below is the story of this event told by Maya:

From the words of the famous Israeli singer Yuval Dayan, “There are things that are truly important, it is the small details, sometimes you don’t need to speak. In the silence we found words.”

We at the Etgarim Dive Center continue to smile as much as possible and dive where it is possible. Dive clubs and guides in Eilat are working with the relocated citizens from the South and North of Israel on diving courses and activities. On the Saturday morning of 11 November, I participated in the first Mediterranean dive with the Etgarim Dive Center in the ruins of Caesarea port. This was a special dive, in memory of a fallen IDF soldier Adi Leon. A soldier in the Tzabar battalion, fallen in a battle in North Gaza, Adi was 20 years old.

Divers with disabilities testify that when diving they feel like any other person without a disability, they are mobile, they float in the water just like everyone else, reach anywhere on their own, and are full partners in the pleasure guaranteed to divers by being underwater. The pressure of the water makes the pain go away and helps the body to relax. The silence contributes to mental calmness and releases a person from daily distress – physical and mental. Divers who come out of diving claim that that night they can sleep without the painkillers they take every day. Etgarim Diving Center has been active for over 20 years, it is the organization authorized in Israel for training divers with disabilities. The importance of continuing the diving activities with Etgarim during these difficult times is the support and keeping up the community for the Etgarim members, the disabled, and volunteers.

Ekaterina Fishman, a second-year Master’s degree student supervised by the Head of the Department Prof. Revital Bookman, and Dr. Iris Zohar from Tel Hai College, is busy with her environmental study concerning Haifa Bay pollution. Working at Prof. Bookman’s Environmental Sedimentology Lab, Ekaterina is studying sediments in ponds downwind of Haifa Bay and is looking forward to unravel the pollution sources to support management of environmental hazards.

She has many other achievements – for example, being a coauthor of two scientific articles in Earth and Planetary Science Letters and working at Prof. Alex Furman’s chemistry laboratory at Technion. Apart from being a diligent student, Ekaterina is also eager to promote the Department of Marine Geosciences to the other University of Haifa prospective students. That is why she gladly agreed to act as the ambassador of the Department at the Open House event this summer and tell the students about its various opportunities.

Asked what fascinates her the most about the Department, she says that it is the interesting research opportunities. “The topic of my study is very important to Haifa, and I am glad that I get to research it”, Ekaterina says. She was also happy to present the initial findings of her research at the Department-organized Scientific Writing and Communication Conference. “Moreover, there is a big cultural diversity both at the Department and at Prof. Bookman’s laboratory”, Ekaterina adds. “It is really fascinating to work shoulder to shoulder with students from different countries, cultures and religions, and to find out that diversity is uniting people here, not dividing them”.

Talking about her future plans, Ekaterina says that she is looking forward to successfully completing her coursework and Master’s degree thesis, and to receiving the degree. She is sure it will contribute to her professional development and open many career doors for her.

Department of Marine Geosciences remains academically appealing to a number of international students, and they do not hesitate to come to Haifa even in these disturbing times. Supervised by Dr. Regina Katsman and working in her Laboratory of Computational Physics in Marine Sciences, Xiongjie Zhou, a PhD student, and Xiaoran Geng, a Master’s degree student, arrived to Haifa from China. They believe that this difficult period will end soon. “Besides, our supervisor gives us a lot of support”, Xiaoran adds.

Both these international students are very talented. Previously, Xiongjie graduated with the Dean of Graduate Studies’ List in the Department of Marine Geosciences during his Master’s degree studies here; now, he won a two-year scholarship and research encouragement fellowship for his PhD studies. He also published two scientific articles and participated in several scientific conferences. Xiaoran was awarded with a two-year scholarship and research encouragement fellowship from the Department for his Master’s degree studies.

In times of hardships, it is refreshing to take a look at some positive news from the Department. Meet Styliani Sevastaki, an international student from Greece, who is doing her M.Sc. degree research project in cooperation between the University of Haifa (supervised by the Head of the Department, Dr. Revital Bookman), and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany (co-supervised by the GEOMAR researcher Dr. Zvi Steiner). Styliani studies recent changes in the SE Mediterranean Sea by using sediments from the deep sea and is sure that the Helmholtz Visiting Researcher Grant, which she was awarded with to work in GEOMAR for some time in the context of her project, will help her to reveal even more.