TAU scientists probe 'deep' questions aboard EcoOcean's environmental res...( TEL AVIV Did the great flood of Noa...)

TEL AVIV Did the great flood of Noahs generation really occur thousands of years ago" Was the Roman city of Caesarea destroyed by an ancient tsunami" Will pollution levels in our deep seas remain forever a mystery"

These are just a few of the questions that are being addressed by a new environmental marine research team from Tel Aviv University and the non-profit research and education organization, EcoOcean.

The team, headed by EcoOcean's Andreas Weil and Prof. Sven Beer of Tel Aviv University, are working to uncover new secrets about civilization and climate change from the depths of the sea floor. They are also a conducting a large-scale study on the health of the Mediterranean Sea with Ph.D. students they sponsor. The work is being done aboard "Mediterranean Explorer", a floating marine vessel.

When I was looking for a partner, I needed to find a team of marine scientists who were leaders in their fields, says Weil, a Swedish environmental philanthropist who helped conceive and fund the idea of giving a free, floating marine research lab to any scientist who needed it. I didnt want us to be just another Greenpeace group of environmental activists. My dream was to build the foremost research vessel for high-level scientific marine research. I wanted to be able to help provide hard scientific data and education about the real state of affairs of our oceans.

The first and only institution that came to mind was Tel Aviv University (TAU), internationally famous for its work in marine biology. Besides being the only university in Israel that has a dedicated marine unit, its researchers are leaders not only in Israel, but the world, says Weil, who brought a crew of TAU scientists on board as EcoOcean advisors. They include Professors Yossi Loya, Micha Ilan, Yehuda Benayahu, and Sven Beer, with Beer appointed as the chief partner and chief scientific advisor for EcoOcean.

Climate, the marine environment, and
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