The Mediterranean is changing fast.20 years ago this video wont be possible, yet we see these invasive fish overgrazing reefs to bare rock, while native species are declining with these invaders dominate entire areas. Climate change is accelerating everything and this is not the sea we knew.

Under PUREEF-Y and CAMBioMed Biodiversa+ projects we started in-situ incubations to many macroalgae species. These habitats host many organisms, vital for maintaining a healthy reef.To better understand their connection to the ecosystem we need to look at their metabolic functions. stay tuned!

FIRST-EVER glimpse at Gongolaria rayssiae zygote courtesy of our past student Inês Gonçalves ! This species of macroalgae is endemic to the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, and it plays a crucial role in our marine ecosystems by providing food, oxygen and a nursery to countless marine creatures.

Divers in action for BioBoost+: collecting samples + standardised seafloor images with survey frames to train/validate #AI tools for marine biodiversity monitoring. 📷 Credit: Guy Raanan @rilovlab.bsky.social @iolr-il.bsky.social #RilovLab #BioBoostPlus #MarineScience #UnderwaterImaging

🥊on one corner,the invasive sea urchin Diadema setosum,at the other our lovely reef🥊 New research by Iris Preiss asks how would future reefs be effected by urchin grazing in the mediterranean? to answer that we attached underwater cages with urchins to see their influence on the benthic community.

After rallying from yet another great IAAS conference ,we that saw our marine community come together to share ideas🐳 Our lab was represented by Iris Preiss,Anton Kovalev, Alhassan Mukaila,Herman Goldberg with great talks about their research and amazing posters 🤩 Photos by Ohad Zohar and Maya Baum

We couldn't be prouder of our students Herman Goldberg, Anton Kovalev, Alhassan Mukaila, Natasha Vasekha and Batia Wolf for their amazing mentorship of the pupils of the social high school of Haifa. Working together on real projects that are drawn from active scientific work!

Mediterranean Sea reached record temperatures triggering rapid topicalization.In an AFP article our very own Gil Rilov said "..now its getting warmer,and since 2015 the canal has been deepened and widened more and more species move in every year" Act now to protect biodiversity More in Full article:

🐙🐚Research Assistant position🤩🐠 Marine Ecology Lab looking for a motivated Research Assistant to join our team. Involves assisting with research ,data analysis,fieldwork and the use of molecular tools. Gain experience and work with leading researchers. [email protected]

Thrilled to start collaboration with the Amunts Lab, with the help of the Prof. Nathan Nelson's Lab. they focus on bioenergetic complexes, and One of said complexes is located on the Thylakoids, which we managed to isolate from our native macroalgae gongolaria, hopefully for some new discoveries!

Field experiment season is well on its way!😍🐙🦀🦑 To check the resilience of the mussel brachidontes pharaonis to multiple stressors such as pollution and temperature our student Mukaila Alhassan prepares the mussels for placement in the field all over the Israeli coastline,stay tuned!

We're thrilled for our Prof. Gil Rilov to be speaking at the museum of natural history.We see faster rates of bioinvasions and dwindling native communities, creating challenges for conservation efforts.Our lab will continue to study its effects in order to understand these threats to our ecosystems

Monitoring in Cyprus is in full swing!As part of the PUREEF_Y project with CMMI cyprus and @icta-uab.bsky.social university we conducted bassline surveys at the intertidal/subtidal zones to understand the biodiversity of Cyprus. it was pleasure doing it with our expert partners and more work ahead🤩🦞

🤩😍🥳🎄To all our colleagues, collaborators, families, friends and enemies😄🕎🤿🦑🦀 happy Christmas, happy Hanukkah and happy holidays ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜