News

All members of the MGM Lab attended this year's meeting of the Israel Geological Society held at the Yearim Hotel in Ma'ale HaHamisha. It was a vibrant gathering of researchers—both early-career and experienced—from across Israel, mainly geologists, but not exclusively. We were proud to see both our current and former students actively contributing to the conference, presenting their work across a range of marine geology topics. Special congratulations to our students for their participation and success in the 3-Minute Speed Talk competition - Orly Babitsky for winning 1st prize and Aleksandra Mironovich for earning 4th prize! 

Poster Titles

* 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

* 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

* Elana Lottner: Assessing the Origin of Inland Sandy Sediment Cover within Archaeological Contexts at Caesarea Israel

Several members of the MGM Laboratory headed over to the island of Santorini in Greece to participate in MGM Lab Head Prof. Beverly Goodman's "Volcano Risks and Consequences" course last week, in collaboration with several CIVIS partners. This blended intensive online and field course looked at the relationship between volcanic eruptions and their secondary and tertiary effects (e.g. climate, tsunamis, and landscape changes), focusing on fieldwork training and case studies spanning the 2022 Tonga Eruption and earlier Thera Eruption from several thousand years ago. During the course, students also got to experience firsthand some of these geological events, with the course coincidentally overlapping with several earthquakes on the island.

MGM Laboratory Ph.D. Candidate Alyssa Victoria Pietraszek received the George Fischer Student Travel Award from the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology to attend the Society for Historical Archaeology's Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in New Orleans, LA. At the conference, Pietraszek gave a presentation, co-authored by mentor Prof. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov,  entitled "Dynamic Coasts and Ancient Landscapes: A Study of Archaeological and Geomorphological Interactions in the Eastern Mediterranean." Her talk highlighted the value of geoarchaeological approaches to coastal studies. Congratulations, Alyssa! 

Photo Credit: Society for Historical Archaeology

MGM Laboratory Ph.D. Candidate Alyssa Victoria Pietraszek presented a poster this past Saturday 23 November at the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. Her poster, entitled "Archaeology and Changing Coastlines: A Case Study from Caesarea, Israel"  and co-authored by M.Sc. student Adellina Cini and advisor Prof. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, presented the results of geoarchaeological work focused on reconstructing the Roman Period (1st century BCE) position of the northern coast at Caesarea, Israel.

A huge congratulations to MGM Laboratory head Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov- now Prof. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov- on her well-deserved promotion to full tenured professor! We are so proud of you, Beverly, and so glad to be a part of your lab!

We are excited for the selection of the article of our graduate Charles (C.J.) Everhardt, along with Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov and former lab members Dr. Roy Jaijel and Dr. Ofra Barkai, as the Editor's Choice! The article, entitled "Earthquake, Fire, and Water: Destruction Sequence Identified in an 8th Century Early Islamic Harbor Warehouse in Caesarea, Israel" and published in the journal Geosciences, compiles the results of C.J.'s M.Sc. thesis. This study investigates possible sources of anomalous sandy and shelly layers discovered in situ in a Roman to Early Islamic warehouse, potentially linked to an earthquake that affected the southern-central Levant in 749 CE. 

https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13040108 

MGM Laboratory Reserach Associate Dr. Shai Oron and Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov published a new article entitled "Shallow water foraminifera from Niue and Beveridge Reef (South Pacific): insights into ecological significance and ecosystem integrity" in the journal Royal Society Open Science. This work, completed as part of the National Geographic Pristine Seas Project, highlights foraminifera from reefs in the south Pacific and their connection to local ecology and ecosystems. Congratulations, Shai!

MGM Laboratory member Muhammed (Moh) Adem successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis today, 16 October 2023. His thesis "Shifting Life Assemblages along the Coastlines of Dead Sea: A Real-Time Analogue for Discrete Lake Level Change," co-supervised by Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov and Prof. Michael Lazar,  assessed the relationship between  rapid lake level changes and the presence of unique foraminifera communities in the Dead Sea. Congratulations, Moh!

MGM Laboratory Reserach Associate Dr. Shai Oron, along with Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, published a new article on the effects of large storms on fringing reef systems in Eilat, Israel. This article, entitled "How monster storms shape fringing reefs: Observations from the 2020 Middle East Cyclone" and published in the journal Ecosphere, compares aerial and close-up imagery of reefs at different depths from before and after the cyclone to assess its effects on the area.

Jade Newman joins the MGM Laboratory as an Intern for the summer until August. Jade is working on their B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences with a Concentration in Earth System Sciences from Clark University in Massachusetts, USA. In the lab, they will be working on photogrammetry of recovered items from the seafloor and eventually archaeological sites in the region. Welcome, Jade!

MGM Laboratory head Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov will give a webinar for the American Society of the University of Haifa on Thursday 28 June at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar, entitled "Planet on Borrowed Time: Changing Coastlines in a Beachfront Nation (and Around the World)", will discuss recent sea-level changes and the implications of these changes for coastal populations in Israel and globally. Register here to attend the webinar.

MGM Laboratory head Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov was included in Israel21c's list "The 48: As Israel Turns 75, Meet 48 Israelis Who Are Uniquely Shaping Israel and the World, Today and Into the Future".  Beverly was featured  for her work focusing on coastal disasters and the effects of climate change on coastlines, which aims to help protect vulnerable coastal communities around the world.

The MGM Laboratory is looking for new M.Sc. or Ph.D. students or Postdoctoral Reserachers to join the lab! The new members will work on National Geographic's Pristine Seas Project- an international initiative aiming to establish marine protected areas around the world based on scientific studies and observations from the field and laboratory.  Sediment samples from these remote areas of the world will be described and analyzed (e.g. micropaleontology, geochemistry, granulometry, etc.) to answer a variety of questions related to foraminiferal biodiversity and biogeography of a changing marine system, impacts of anthropogenic activities, pollution, and climate change,  and markers of marine geohazards. Those interested should email the MGM Laboratory Lab Manager Mimi at tanagnos@staff.haifa.ac.il. Positions starting immediately or during the 2023-2024 academic year.

MGM Laboratory members Alyssa Pietraszek, Jeremy Gabriel, Akos Kalman, Mimi Anagnostoudi, and Beverly Goodman-Tchernov along with Roey Nickelsberg began fieldwork along the Mediterranean coast of Israel and offshore Caesarea. These snorkeling, scuba diving, drone, and geophysical surveys are focused on documenting geomorphological features along the current coastline and across the currently submerged ancient coastal landscape.

"Marine Sedimentology," run by MGM Laboratory's head Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov and Dr. Timor Katz of Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, wrapped up its 11th course last week at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences at Eilat. The course is a ten day intensive class on marine sedimentology and includes lectures by specialists in the field, a field trip, and student-run research projects. During this time, students have the chance to see their projects progress from sample collection while scuba diving or from a research vessel to laboratory analysis and finally to data processing and interpretation.

The MGM Laboratory welcomes new intern Sari Ponnet who will be joining the lab until January! Sari finished her Bachelor's in Marine Biology this summer at the University of Southampton and is now completing several internships to figure out her next steps. She will be situated at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat where she will be helping MGM Laboratory Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Shai Oron with the Pristine Seas Project, sponsored by the National Geographic Society (NGS). She will be responsible for picking, photographing, and ID'ing benthic foraminifera from samples collected by NGS divers from several sites around the Seychelles. Welcome, Sari!

MGM Laboratory Ph.D. Candidate Orly Babitsky gave a talk yesterday at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt entitled "Coastal Authorities at the Forefront of Climate Change." Her talk focused on the vulnerability of the Mediterranean coast of Israel to climate change. She discussed the different factors affecting coastal vulnerability in the area, highlighting the importance of adaptation plans in the country where 50% of the major cities are located on the coast.

Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov lead a tour today for the National Geographic Expedition at Caesarea, Israel. The tour covered the area from Aqueduct Beach in the north of Caesarea down to the Roman theatre in the south and focused on the geoarchaeology of the area, specifically ancient tsunamis. This tour marks the first time the group has visited since corona.

Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov gave a talk yesterday 18 October as part of the National Academy of Sciences program "Distinctive Voices" in Irvine, California. Her talk entitled "Ancient Tsunami Deposits and the Lives They Save" discussed ancient tsunami deposits identified in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically those resulting from the eruption of the volcano Thera on Santorini during the Bronze Age, and the implications that these findings have had for disaster risk management strategies today.

Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov gave a lecture entitled "AAUS Standards in an international context: a case study from Haifa University, Israel" at the Diving for Science and Humanity: One Day Workshop yesterday at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. This talk discussed the scientific diving activities of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa as well as the goals of these diving-intensive projects. Dr. Goodman-Tchernov's trip was supported by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) to share with them recent projects and new initiatives, as well as to thank the Bolaffi Fund for supporting University of Haifa - Flinders University cooperations.

The 2022 Educational Cruise, instructed by MGM Laboratory alumni Dr. Mor Kanari, was held 25 & 26 July offshore Haifa. During the 36-hour cruise, students had an opportunity to use a variety of methodologies to explore the deep sea, including collecting CTD casts and marine sediment cores, and conducting a geophysical survey. Marine sediment collection was led by MGM Laboratory post-doc Dr. Akos Kalman, and included among the cruise-goers was MGM Laboratory M.Sc. Candidate Yarden Aaltonen. The students will now spend the next couple of months processing the data collected during the cruise in the laboratories of the Dr. Moses Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences.

MGM Laboratory Ph.D. Candidate Alyssa Victoria Pietraszek was awarded the Claude C. Albritton, Jr. Award from the Geological Society of America (GSA) Geoarchaeology Division. This grant will help fund the fieldwork for her dissertation reconstructing changes in the coastal area and suggesting possible locations of archaeological sites submerged on the Mediterranean continental shelf of Israel. 

Guy Raanan, who completed his M.Sc. in the MGM Laboratory in 2021, walked in yesterday's graduation ceremony. Currently, Guy is a Lab Manager at Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research. Congratulations, Guy!

Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, together with Prof. Vasıf Şahoğlu, gave a seminar talk today in the Departmental Seminar at Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures. The talk, entitled "Volcanic ash, victims, and tsunami debris from the Late Bronze Age Thera eruption discovered at  Çeşme-Bağlararası, Turkey", discussed the highlights of their recent paper published in PNAS in December 2021.

The two newest Ph.D.'s in the MGM Laboratory, Dr. Eleen Zirks and Dr. Akos Kalman, were finally able to walk in the first Ph.D. ceremony held since corona virus on Tuesday 24 May 2022. Eleen finished her Ph.D. entitled "The Holocene Oxygen Minimum Zone in the SE Levantine Basin: Its Evolution and Implications" under the supervision of Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov and Prof. Michael Krom in 2019. Akos completed his Ph.D. entitled "Paleoflood Reconstructions in the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat, Red Sea" in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov and Dr. Timor Katz. Congratulations to both!

The MGM Laboratory welcomes a new Lab Manager Thomai (Mimi) Anagnostoudi. Mimi is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Laboratory of Marine Geophysics and Seismic Interpretation, University of Haifa under the supervision of Dr. Michael Lazar (UHaifa), Dr. Uri Schattner (UHaifa), and Prof. Bruno C. Vendeville (Université de Lille).

Several members of the lab attended and presented at the Israel Geological Society Annual Meeting in Nir Etzion, Israel from 5 to 7 April 2022. Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Akos Kalman gave a talk entitled "Anthropogenic changes in waterways produce "drought-like" layers in shelf sediments" presenting the main findings from his recently published paper of the same name. Poster presentations were also given by Ph.D. Candidate Alyssa Victoria Pietraszek and M.Sc. Candidate Gabriel Olawuyi.

Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Akos Kalman, along with M.Sc. Candidates CJ Everhardt and Moh Adem wrapped up sampling today at the Dead Sea. Sediment samples were collected from along the lake shore for foraminifera assemblage analysis and microplastic quantification. The samples collected during this campaign (8 to 11 February 2022) will be analyzed as part of the "Dead Sea Expeditions" project.

Ph.D. Candidate Alyssa Victoria Pietraszek was chosen to receive the Women Divers Hall of Fame 'Advanced Dive Training Grant - Technical' to help fund her introduction into the world of technical diving. Her supervisor Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov was also funded by the Women Divers Hall of Fame at the same stage of her career 15 years ago through the inaugural Cecelia Connelly Memorial Grant!

Dr. Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, the Head of the MGM Laboratory, published a new paper entitled "Volcanic ash, victims, and tsunami debris from the Late Bronze Age Thera eruption discovered at Çeşme-Bağlararası (Turkey)" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) along with co-authors Prof. Vasıf Şahoğlu, Dr. Johannes H. Sterba, Dr. Timor Katz, Dr. Ümit Çayır, Dr. Ümit Gündoğan, Prof. İrfan Tuğcu, Dr. Max Bichler, Prof. Hayat Erkanal, and MGM Laboratory alumni Dr. Natalia Tyuleneva. This paper presented evidence for the first victim of the tsunamis that followed the eruption of Thera on Santorini in the Late Bronze Age.