Member of the Scientific Committee

Email: sigalabr@bgu.ac.il
Research Areas: Marine geobiology, foraminifera as indicators of the marine environment

Current research in the Mediterranean:
Lessepsian invasion, the response of foraminifera to ocean warming and anthropogenic contaminants: combining geochemical, genetic, ecologic, and physiological mechanisms.

Vision for developing Mediterranean research:
I study foraminifera, single-cell organisms with a chalky skeleton, as a model organism for observing the biological implications of environmental changes and as living loggers of infections. The area consisting of the continental shelf of the eastern basin (Levant) in the Mediterranean is an ideal field laboratory for foraminifera research. This region has undergone global changes and is affected by coastal industries. It is representative of one of the most significant biogeographic phenomena in recent decades – the arrival of tropical invasive species, whose establishment in the region is attributed to global warming.