Edo Bar-Zeev
(Principal Investigator)
Senior Lecture at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Ben-Gurion University
Personal statement: “The best solution to overcoming any biologically related problem should ultimately be biology”
Almog Gafni, ph.D.
(Project Manager)
Almog is an environmental microbiologist working as a project manager at the Bar-Zeev group since 2024. She was born in Israel and been living in Midreshet Ben Gurion with her partner and kids since 2012. In her free time, she likes gardening, carpentry, and hiking. Almog did M.Sc. and Ph.D studies in environmental microbiology and hydrology at the Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research, Ben-Gurion University.
Carla Villamarín
(Ph.D. Student)
Carla Villamarín is pursuing her Ph.D at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, BGU. Her research project is focused on nitrogen fixation and diazotrophic diversity in freshwater environments, at the local and global scale. She has an M.Sc. in Ecology and Conservation from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, where she studied the seasonal shifts in microbial diversity of riverbed sediments. In the past years, she had been working on freshwater ecosystems ecology, focusing on microbes and macroinvertebrates of tropical non-perennial fluvial systems. In my spare time I enjoy climbing, cooking and soccer. Her research focuses on the impact of seawater conditions on large scale desalination operations.
RAND LANDER
(M.Sc Student)
Rand Lander is an M.Sc. student at the Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research studying Hydrology and Water Microbiology. He previously completed his B.S in Molecular Biology at University of California, San Diego. Rand is focusing on heterotrophic nitrogen fixation in freshwater sediments and works intimately with the Jordan River of Israel. His project explores the minutiae of heterotrophic diazotrophs in biofilms on the sediment particles as well as the free-living bacteria in the pore water, with specific insights into seasonal disparities and how the aerobic and anaerobic layers of the streambed differ. In his free time, Rand indulges in fresh air and nature whenever possible and likes to climb and play music.
Samantha Vaca Cobo
(M.Sc Student)
Samantha Vaca is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Ben-Gurion University, supervised by her co-advisors: Dr. Edo Bar-Zeev from Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research and Dr. Melany Ruiz-Urigüen from Universidad San Francisco de Quito. The research focuses on nitrogen transformations using microscopy.
She has a bachelor’s degree (B.Sc.) in Environmental Engineering from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. During her studies, she worked on various research projects regarding photocatalyst synthesis and their dye removal potential, but also in river heavy metals treatment using native microalgae. Additionally, her passion for community work took her to work with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to measure the water quality of the Tandacato community in Cotopaxi, Ecuador; in partnership with Caltech EWB.
In her free time, Samantha enjoys reading, yoga, gardening, dancing, painting, and more.
RYAN SIROTA
(Ph.D. Student)
Ryan Sirota is a Ph.D student at Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research, BGU under the supervision of Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev, Dr. Gidon Winters, and Dr. Eyal Rahav (IOLR). He has M.Sc in marine biology and ecology from University of Miami in Florida. He is currently at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat (IUI) researching the impacts of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination brine effluent on the seagrass Halophila stipulacea, benthic bacteria, and porewater chemistry. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving, snorkeling, and hiking. “You only need three things in life: Seagrass, friendship, and more friendship!”- Ryan Sirota
EFRAT ZIVI
(M.Sc. Student)
Efrat Zivi is from Israel and co supervised by Dr. Avner Ronen and Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev. Her project investigates the movement of hydrocarbons in sea water and in rapid sand filter following an oil spill in the ocean. She has a degree from Ben Gurion University in Biotechnology engineering. In her free time, she likes to travel and read books.
Taiwo Oluwaseun Adeyemo
(Ph.D. Student)
Taiwo Adeyemo is currently a Ph.D. student at the Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research’s, BGU and supervised by Prof. Edo Bar Zeev and Prof. Noam Weisbrod. His research is focused on improving infiltration and water quality in soil aquifer treatment (SAT) by working on a pilot-scale hybrid wastewater treatment method (Plant-soil aquifer treatment (P-SAT) that combines constructed wetlands (CW) and SAT, exploring the role of porous media and plants. He loves sports, board games, reading, problem solving and used to work as a business analyst.
Jorge Jaramillo
(M.Sc. Student)
Jorge Jaramillo is an M.Sc student at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, BGU and co- supervised by Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev and Prof. Noam Weisbrod. The focus of Jorge’s project focuses on Soil Aquifer Treatment of wastewater.
Jorge has a B.Sc in biotechnology engineering from Universidad San Francisco de Quito, in Ecuador. Before coming to BGU Jorge worked as Brewing supervisor for 3 years in “Cervecería Nacional” – AB-InBev) in Quito. Jorge’s hobbies are playing and watching football and listening to music.
Javier Gándara
(M.Sc. Student)
Javier Gándara is from Ecuador and co supervised by Dr. Avner Ronen and Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev. His project is to compare the performance of common membranes and electrically conductive membranes. Javier graduated from Universidad San Francisco de Quito as a Chemical Engineer. On his spare time, Javier likes to swim, eat, sleep and repeat. He also like to watch movies or series and relax as much as he can. Additionally, he also likes to develop projects and find a way to get profit from them.
YANJI TIAN
(M.Sc. Student)
YanJi Tian is currently perusing her M.Sc at the Zukerberg Institute for Water Research, BG and co-supervised by Prof. Edo Bar Zeev and Dr. Roy Bernstein. The research focuses on the modification of feed spacers for biofouling control in desalination. She has a B.Sc in Environmental Science from Hainan university (China). In her spare time, YanJi enjoys swimming, listening to podcasts and hiking.
Vijayalakshmi Anandan
(M.Sc. Student)
Vijayalakshmi Anandan is a M.Sc student at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, BGU and co-supervised by Dr. Roy Bernstein and Prof. Edo Bar Zeev. The research focuses on biofouling control during wastewater treatment by Forward Osmosis. She has a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from Puducherry Technological University (India). In her spare time, Vijayalakshmi enjoys Gardening, Yoga and listening to novels.
Alumni
- Hila Frank (M.Sc 2015-2017)
- Ashesh Mahto (Ph.D exchange student 2017-2018)
- Shiju Abraham (Postdoctoral fellow, 2018-2019)
- Andreas Kastl (Ph.D exchange student, 2019)
- Josh Brooks (M.Sc, 2017-2019)
- Anne Bogler (Ph.D and Postdoctoral fellow, 2016-2021)
- Joy Nnebuo (M.Sc, 2019-2022)
- Osher Adler (M.Sc 2020-2022)
- Eyal Geisler (M.Sc and Ph.D, 2016-2022)
- Joseane Marques (Postdoctoral fellow, 2021-2023)