Prof. Gil Rilov – Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research

Member of the Educational Committee  

E-mail: rilocg@ocean.org.il

Research Areas: Ecology and nature conservation

Position at IOLR: Head of the Marine Community Ecology Lab at the Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Haifa – the Department of Marine Biology.

Additional information: personal website

The vision for the development of marine research: I have been researching the Mediterranean for many years and am thrilled each time anew by its beauty on the one hand, and on the other hand by the enormous changes it has undergone in recent decades due to human activity. The big challenge is to understand these changes, their significance to nature and humanity, as well as to predict how the Mediterranean ecosystems will look like and function in the future, with the increase in exposure to local and global impacts such as climate change and bioinvasions. Furthermore, it is important to develop ways to deal with and adapt for these changes using nature-based solutions.

Active studies in the Mediterranean: I conduct many studies to monitor and study rocky reefs in the Mediterranean with a focus on the effects of overfishing, species invasions and climate change on biodiversity and functioning of marine ecosystems. For that, we have developed experimental systems, mesocosms, that can simulate future projected conditions and test the response of species and communities to the predicted environmental changes. Some of my research are conducted with colleagues around the Mediterranean as part of large European projects such as FutureMARES. I am also a member of MedECC and was a lead author in the first Mediterranean Assessment report on the Climate and Environmental Change.