Marine Geoarcheology & Micropaleontology Laboratory Haifa University

04/05/2026

🌊 Decoding Tsunamis. Mapping History. ⚓
Ready for a PhD or MA in Marine Sedimentology? Join Beverly Goodman’s team at the Marine Geoarchaeology & Micropaleontology Lab (University of Haifa).

Open Day:
• 📅 May 7, 17:00
• 📍 Steinhardt Museum

🌊✨ יום פתוח לתארים מתקדמים במדעי הימים והאגמים ✨🌊

מתעניינים בתואר שני או דוקטורט? לא משנה מאיזה תחום אתם מגיעים – ביולוגיה, כימיה, פיזיקה, מדעי הסביבה, הנדסה, מדעי המחשב או תחומים אחרים – יש לכם מקום בעולם מדעי הימים והאגמים.

העמותה הישראלית למדעי הימים והאגמים (IAAS) מזמינה אתכם ליום פתוח מיוחד!

📅 7.5.26
🕔 17:00–19:00
📍 מוזיאון הטבע ע״ש שטיינהרדט, תל אביב

מה מחכה לכם?
🔬 מפגש בלתי אמצעי עם חוקרות וחוקרים מובילים מכל המוסדות
🌍 היכרות עם תחומי מחקר מגוונים ורב-תחומיים
🎓 מידע על מסלולי תואר שני ודוקטורט
🤝 הזדמנות ליצור קשרים ולהיחשף לאפשרויות עתידיות

בואו לשאול שאלות, לקבל השראה, ולגלות איך הרקע שלכם יכול להשתלב בעולם המדע!

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🌊✨ IAAS Open Day for Prospective Graduate Students ✨🌊

Thinking about pursuing a Master’s or PhD? No matter your background—biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, engineering, computer science, or beyond—there’s a place for you in aquatic sciences.

Curious about research opportunities and want to meet scientists face-to-face?

The Israeli Association of Aquatic Sciences (IAAS) invites you to a special open day to explore research directions and discover your next step.

📅 May 7, 2026
🕔 17:00–19:00
📍 Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv

What to expect:
🔬 Meet leading researchers from all institutions face-to-face
🌍 Discover diverse, interdisciplinary research fields
🎓 Learn about MSc and PhD opportunities
🤝 Connect, ask questions, and explore future paths

Come get inspired and see how your background can fit into the world of aquatic sciences!

31/03/2026

🪸 New paper from MGM Lab!

📄 Baroliya et al., Marine Micropaleontology, 204 (2026), 102574
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2026.102574

The Maldives is one of the most famous places on Earth. Millions of tourists, hundreds of coral studies, endless photos of turquoise water. You'd think everything has been explored. Turns out — not quite.

320 species. 118 genera. Zero prior records. Our postdoc, Hiti Baroliya, has just put the southern Maldives on the scientific map. 🔬

The southern atolls — Huvadhu, Addu, and Fuvahmulah — had never been systematically documented for foraminifera. No baseline, no reference point, no data. And that's exactly the gap she set out to fill.

The result is the most diverse foraminiferal assemblage ever recorded in the Maldives — richer and healthier than the central and northern atolls. But even here, in some of the most pristine reefs on the planet, the early fingerprints of tourism and development are already visible in the data. Forams always see it first.

💬 "We are turning a page that science has never read before. These tiny organisms are like health sensors of the reef — they record the smallest changes long before divers can see them on the coral structures." — Hitisha Baroliya

Before you can track change, you need to know what normal looks like. This work creates exactly that baseline for future monitoring of climate and human impacts across Indian Ocean reef systems.

This research was made possible through a wonderful collaboration:
🔹 Shai Oron , המכון הבינאוניברסיטאי למדעי הים באילת - IUI-Eilat
🔹 Enric Sala, National Geographic Pristine Seas
🔹 Alan Friedlander, National Geographic Pristine Seas
🔹 Mimi Anagnostoudi, בי"ס למדעי הים ע"ש צ'רני, אוניברסיטת חיפה Charney School of Marine Sciences
🔹 Beverly Goodman, Prof. בי"ס למדעי הים ע"ש אוניברסיטת חיפה Charney School of Marine Sciences

Samples were collected during a National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition — a program dedicated to exploring and protecting the last wild places in the ocean. Together, we turn their field data into fundamental science.

📄 Baroliya et al., Marine Micropaleontology, 204 (2026), 102574
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2026.102574

Cushman Foundation For Foraminiferal Research National Geographic

27/02/2026

MGM Lab at IGS: diving into sediments, paleoenvironments, and marine mysteries🪸🪼🐚


Beverly Goodman
Aleksandra Mironovich
Moran Eyal Kaminer

12/01/2026

Today Dr. Hitisha Baroliya from our MGMLab took students to the Southern Maldives 🪸🐠, showing how different foraminifera communities trace contrasts between pristine, stressed, and transitional reefs using material from the National Geographic Society Pristine Seas project.

Want to hear the full story behind these tiny reef indicators? Watch the full seminar at the link below👇

Reef Health through the Foraminiferal Lens: A Baseline for Marine Protection Planning in the Southern Maldives Dr Hitisha Baroliya - Department of Marine Geo...

07/01/2026

🌊 Israeli Scientists Reveal Coral Reefs’ Hidden Microbial Rhythms

Researchers from University of Haifa found that coral reefs actively shape the daily lives of microbes in surrounding waters. Tracking DNA, counting cells, and using advanced imaging every six hours, they discovered fewer microbes near reefs, nighttime spikes in microbial predators, and midday peaks of algae crucial for coral growth.

“These daily microbial rhythms are as strong as seasonal changes,” said researcher Dr. Herdís Steinsdóttir. Understanding them could help monitor reef health as oceans warm and pollution rises.

🔗 Read more: https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-israeli-research-shows-coral-reefs-shape-the-ebb-and-flow-of-local-microbial-life/

29/12/2025

So proud of our lab head, Prof. Beverly Goodman, and grateful for her leadership, dedication, and example to all of us!

25/12/2025

2026 here we come!

25/12/2025

It's been an amazing year! Ending it on a high note at the המכון הבינאוניברסיטאי למדעי הים באילת - IUI-Eilat in Derya Akkaynak's Red Sea System Course. Lots of exciting activities and phenomenal research happening in the lab---2026 is going to be something amazing! Peace, Love, and Forams!

15/12/2025

11/12/2025

🌊 The Dead Sea’s Hidden Plastic Crisis 🌍

A new study from University of Haifa, in collaboration with Italian researchers, uncovers two decades of plastic waste silently accumulating along the Dead Sea’s shrinking shores.

The message is clear: Plastic pollution in the Dead Sea is accelerating — and prevention is urgent.

Strengthening waste management, improving monitoring, and reducing leakage from urban streams like the Kidron are essential to protecting one of the world’s most remarkable natural wonders.

Read more: https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-879685

24/02/2024

Congratulations Riley Steele and co-authors Foram HunterJoe BoyceJeremy GabrielMeghan BurchellAndrew KingstonMeghan Burchell for this latest publication from excavations and collections at Caesarea Maritima.


The study shows how the construction of a Roman Harbor in Caesarea created an environment that not only protected from the elements, but also created a new framework for certain microscopic foraminifer species to flourish! These same species has been increasing again in the modern period due to (again) significant coastal development, in particular structures both onshore and extending offshore.

The samples were collected by scientific divers underwater excavations and geological coring. These same collections gave us the first glimpse into the arrival of tsunamis over the past 4000 years!

Enjoy this link to download a free copy-

The construction of harbours along high energy nearshore environments, which commonly include the emplacement of hard structures both as central featu…