Lab Members

Gitai Yahel Lab

Current

I am a graduate (BSc) of the School of Marine Science in Michmoret and hold an MSc from Tel Aviv University, under the supervision of Dr. Iftach Yacoby, Laboratory for renewable energy studies in the subject of Hydrogen production by algae. In the lab, I'm positioned as the lab manager and a team member at the Israeli estuarine research center. Our main goal in this research is to establish and implement a science-based rehabilitation program of the Alexander estuarine that can be applicable in similar estuaries along the Israeli coast-line.

Neomie Darmon

I am currently working as a research technician in the Yahel lab.
I completed my BSc and MSc studies in 2023 in Marine Sciences from the Faculty of Marine Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center under the joint supervision of the late Dr. Eyal Wurgaft (The Open University), and Prof. Gitai Yahel.
My work focuses on the role of sponges and other filter-feeding organisms in the carbon cycle of coastal environments where they abound.
Sessile suspension feeders filter vast amounts of water and play an important role in benthic-pelagic coupling. During my research, I developed a method to measure continuously, in situ, the DIC flux mediated by individual pumping filter feeders. Combining these flux measurements with benthic surveys of abundance allows us to scale up these measurements to community-level fluxes. This method allows us to estimate the contribution of filter feeders to the inorganic carbon budgets and can be utilized to further understand these animals' metabolism.

Rei Diga

PhD student
I am a PhD student under the joint supervision of Prof. Gitai Yahel, Ruppin Academic Center, and Prof. (emeritus) Amatzia Genin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I completed my MSc and BSc studies in 2021 in Marine Sciences from the Faculty for Marine Science in Ruppin Academic Center.

My work focuses on the removal, utilization and transformations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by aquatic suspension feeders. The production, degradation, and cycling of carbon within the ocean are tightly coupled to the atmosphere and hence exert a strong control on the earth’s climate. DOM is the largest reservoir of organic matter in the ocean, similar in size to atmospheric CO2. The vast majority of DOM research focuses on the role of microbes in DOM processing and transformation. In contrast, the utilization, removal, and transformations of naturally occurring DOM by metazoans in situ have not been thoroughly studied. If occurring on a significant scale, removing, and transforming DOM by suspension-feeding metazoans can substantially revise our understanding of coastal marine ecosystem functioning and introduce a novel evaluation of the role of DOM as a nutritional source for metazoans.

Dan Golanski

MSc student
I am an MSc student under the co-supervision of Prof. Gitai Yahel, Ruppin Academic Center, and Prof.Yoni Belmaker, Tel Aviv University.

I graduated with a BSc in Marine Science from Ruppin Academic Center in 2023 and worked as a research assistant in the lab during my studies. I studied bivalve's behavior (S. spinosus) in situ and a colonization of the soft bottom in front of Mikhmoret by ascidians (M. exasperatus).

My MSc research is focused on how marine heatwaves affect fish behavior in situ and specifically how it changes their activity and spatial distribution and how this response varies between different species and individuals.

Raz Marom (Moskovich)

PhD student

I began working in Professor Gitai Yahel's lab while an undergraduate at the Faculty of Marine Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center. During this time, I participated in underwater research and analysed marine samples using Flow Cytometry. I continued my studies and earned an MSc under the joint

supervision of Professor Micha Ilan (TAU) and Professor Yahel (RUP). This research focused on comparing the metabolism strategy (pumping rate versus respiration) between the 2 groups of sponges: high microbial abundance (HMA) and low microbial abundance (LMA). By adapting technology to underwater work, we were able to measure the metabolic rates of many species in situ, over periods between 24 and 72 hours. Currently my Ph.D. research continues this underwater work in quantifying and understanding the metabolic rhythms of sponges and understanding the relationships of individual size with its metabolic rate.