Reviewing papers by others is a part of the game, checkout Orr's Publons profile for contributions as a reviewer or the Research Gate and Google Scholar profiles for publication list
Reviewing papers by others is a part of the game, checkout Orr's Publons profile for contributions as a reviewer or the Research Gate and Google Scholar profiles for publication list
Movement Ecology and Individual Behavior
PI: Orr Spiegel
Orr is interested in movement ecology, and in how individual variation in space use patterns affect social network dynamics, as well as other ecological and evolutionary processes. Foraging, ornithology, and conservation are also topics of interest.
E-mail: orrspiegel<at>tauex.tau.ac.il
C.V. (link)
Postdoctoral Scientists
Dr. Marta Acácio
Marta joined us from Portugal to study the movement ecology of the endangered griffon vulture. For her PhD, she studied the drivers of dispersal and migratory movements of long-lived birds, using white-storks and shoebills as study species. Now she is focusing on vultures' breeding behavior and studies how they change their movement patterns over the years, aiming to help with their conservation.
E-mail: marta.acacio<@>gmail.com
Dr. Neta Tsur
Neta is an experienced algorithm developer with a strong interest in applying natural processes to solve modern challenges in health and the environment. She has worked in the interconnected fields of environmental science, healthcare, and data science, developing innovative algorithms that support sustainability and well-being. Currently, at our lab Neta is developing algorithms for animal tracking data as part of her research in wildlife movement ecology.
E-mail: tsur.neta<@>gmail.com
PhD Students
Chen Ben-Tzvi
Chen studies bird movement within ecological corridors, focusing on agricultural areas as connectors across landscapes. Her PhD utilizes the ATLAS tracking system in the Harod Valley to analyze factors that either facilitate or hinder animal movement. She is especially interested in applying these insights to enhance the functionality of existing ecological corridors and to inform the precise design of future corridors.
Co-supervised with Prof. Assaf Shwartz, Technion
E-mail: chenbtz<at>gmail.com
Shlomo Cain
Shlomo has studied Barn owls in his childhood, and now as a PhD candidate, he has returned working with this beautiful creature. He is interested in the relationship between personality traits, animal movement, and behavior. Especially, the effect of personality type on mate selection and the bequeathing of these traits to the chicks.
Co-supervised with Prof. Yossi Leshem from TAU
E-mail: shlomocain<at>gmail.com
Michal Handel
Michal is interested in how different landscape attributes affect animal movement. The goal of her PhD is to explore the effectiveness of agricultural areas as ecological corridors. Her research uses the ATLAS system at the Harod valley to identify factors that can facilitate and/or impede animal movements in various landscapes.
Co-supervised with Prof. Assaf Shwartz, Technion
E-mail: michalhandel<at>gmail.com
Mia Maor
Mia works on Persian fallow deer reintroduction. She is interested in predator prey interactions, particularly in how predators affect the spatial distribution of prey populations, the movement and home range selection of naive individuals. Ultimately, she is motivated to use insights from the study of animal behavior and learning patterns for facilitating re-introductions.
Co-supervised with Prof. David Saltz from BGU
E-mail: miamaor89<at>gmail.com
Akiva is interested in the conservation of endangered species and their translocations as a tool for helping wild populations. His PhD will focus on the movement patterns of reintroduced ungulates, specifically how they learn their new habitat and how individuals differ in that. He also works at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, actively participating in multiple reintroduction programs.
E-mail: akivas <at>mail.tau.ac.il
Tovale Solomon
Tovale comes to our labs from the world of Data Science and Mathematics. She is interested in conservation, bird migration, movement and a particular interest is population dynamics of ground nesting birds. With her background in data analysis and machine learning, she focuses on quantifiable research and applying technology to the world of movement ecology.
E-mail: tovale.solomon<at>gmail.com
Originally from Washington,US, Hunter has a keen interest in various aspects of behavioral ecology, particularly in the technological advancements that enhance research in this field. For his MSc at Bar-Ilan University, Hunter investigated the breeding ecology of the Rock Hyrax in the Judean Desert. Now, as a PhD candidate, Hunter's research centers on lapwings, looking into how their social networks are shaped by movement ecology and individual personality type.
E-mail: hunterwarick24<at>gmail.com
MSc Students
Zhuochao Min (闵卓超)
Zhuochao comes from China and joined the lab with a full passion for ecology. He is interested in animal behaviors and the quantitative logic behind population-level patterns. With his background in software, he now focuses on using computational methods to investigate how the animal personality assemblage affects social structure patterns across environmental heterogeneity...
E-mail: min.zhuochao<at>gmail.com
Anat Peleg
Anat is interested in conservation and minimizing the conflict between agriculture and wildlife. Her MSc project focuses on monitoring and characterizing the activity of wildlife throughout plantations at the Hefer Valley, Israel. Eventually the goal is to explore and customize less harmful solutions against wildlife interference to agriculture.
Co-supervised with Dr. Oren Shelef from the Volcani Institute-ARO (The Institute of Plant Sciences).
E-mail: anat.peleg89<at>gmail.com
Yehuda Samuel
Yehuda is interested in animal movement with an emphasis on wildlife conservation. In his M.Sc project, he studies the movement patterns of Golden Jackals in the Harod and Spring valley populations. The research goal is to estimate the population size and understand how to properly handle the rabies outbreaks carried by jackals.
E-mail: yehudasam<at>gmail.com
Gideon Vaadia
Gideon is interested in animal movement, behavior and space use with a strong emphasis on conservation applications. In his M.Sc project he studies Griffon Vulture foraging behaviours, using a combination of GPS and Acceleration-based behavioural classification tools, with the goal of providing insights relevant to both understanding and conserving this magnificent species.
E-mail: randomdude18<at>gmail.com
Hilla Ziv
Hilla is interested in conservation, animal movement and behavior, and has participated in a few conservation volunteering programs in Southern Africa. In her MSc project she will compare nesting behavior and movement of Spur-winged Lapwings from different habitats with different predation pressure.
E-mail: hillaziv<at>gmail.com
Inbal Beeberman
Inbal is interested in animal movement and the way it is affected by land use. In her M.Sc. project, she uses the ATLAS tracking system at the Harod valley to study the effects of various agricultural practices on bird movement. This research aims to assess the role of agricultural areas as effective ecological corridors.
E-mail: inbalbee<at>gmail.com
Roi Gerstel
Roi is an avid animal enthusiast and programmer. He has been trying to balance both directions, including a B.Sc. in Bioinformatics (Biology and Computer Science). After a few years in the industry, he is trying to juggle these two passions once more. Roi is interested in animal behavior and social interactions, and plans to investigate both on a cross-species scale for his M.Sc.
E-mail: roigerstel<at>mail.tau.ac.il
Shaked Finger
Shaked is interested in wildlife conservation, in discovering how ecological and biological processes impact and support conservation efforts. In her M.Sc. project she studies the links between foraging and movements of vultures and their microbiome, and the occurrence of antibiotic resistance bacteria within it, with the goal of providing insights relevant to conserving this magnificent species.
E-mail: shaaked.finger<at>gmail.com
May Moreno
May is interested in conservation ecology and animal behavior. For her M.Sc., she focuses on Griffon Vultures, exploring their nesting behaviors using ACC & GPS tracking, and developing a tool for remote identification of nesting behavior and success. Using these tools, May hopes to reveal the ecological factors influencing nesting success, providing valuable insights for conserving these majestic birds.
E-mail: maymoreno<at>mail.tau.ac.il
Lab manager
Alumni and Visiting Students
Dr. Nili Anglister
Nili is a DVM (Vet) interested in wildlife diseases and the interface between conservation and medicine. She works at the Israeli Wildlife Hospital and saves wildlife casualties on a daily basis. Nili studies how Griffon vultures cope with pathogens, poisoning and other risk factors. This includes how their space-use affects exposure, and how exposure, in turn, shapes their movement patterns.
E-mail: nilsanglister<at>yahoo.com
Dr. Michael (Miki) Bar-Ziv
Michael is interested in nature conservation and the influences of human activities on wildlife, particularly the effect human-footprint have on animal behavior and their habitat. In his master degree he studied how ground dwelling insects cope with urbanization. His PhD will focus on the movement patterns of ground-nesting birds, and on how their behavior is influenced by their phenotype and local habitat along a natural-urban gradient.
E-mail: mikibarziv@gmail.com
Miranda M Crafton
Miranda comes from the United States and is interested in the relationship between animal movement and behavior, and the spread of zoonotic disease. Her project investigates the role of feral pigeons as potential disease vectors among dairy farms in Central Israel, and the importance of movement patterns, and social behaviors relative to its pathogen load.
Co-supervised with Dr. Avishai Lublin from the Kimron Vet. Institute.
E-mail: mirandacrafton<at>gmail.com
Michael (Mookie) Breuer
Mookie is an environmental planner in the ministry of environmental protection. He is broadly interested in the improvement and planning of ecological corridors. His MA explores the influence of agriculture practices on animal movement. Towards this he is tracking spur-winged lapwings at the Harod valley with the ATLAS system.
Co-supervised with Prof. Assaf Shwartz from the Technion (through the Porter school of environmental studies). E-mail: mookie.br <at> gmail.com
Manon Sorais
Manon comes from Montreal (UQÀM), Canada, and her PhD project encompasses environmental toxicology and movement ecology. More specifically, she tracks urban ring-billed gulls to investigate how habitat use affects their atmospheric exposure to flames retardants, a widely used class of chemicals. She is now visiting our lab to learn more about movement analysis and ultimately characterize the interplay between exposure to flame retardants and gulls behavior.
E-mail: manon.sorais<at>gmail.com
Dr. Guilad Friedemann
Guilad did a postdoc in our lab. He is interested in avian ecology and conservation. In his PhD he studied the nesting ecology and competitive interaction between different raptor species. Over the past 12 years he is leading raptor researches, surveys and projects which have direct conservation implications. His postdoc involved monitoring the declining of an avian population.
E-mail: gilad.fridman<at>gmail.com
Yohay Wasserlauf
Yohay is a birdwatcher and a bird ringer. He is working on the recently-discovered Israeli population of Egyptian nightjars. In order to protect those special & cryptic birds, Yohay studies their movement ecology, population distribution and genetic origin. All together, Yohay and others in the larger "Egyptian nightjar team" hope to understand the species life history.
E-mail: yohay287<at>gmail.com
Dr. Eitam Arnon
Eitam has completed his Ph.D. in computational chemistry. He is interested in understanding the mechanisms behind animal movement, and in particular the differences and deviations within a specific species and population. He is planning to introduce analytical tools of data science into movement ecology and is also enthusiastic about integrating these tools into our research group.
Co-supervised with Prof. Sivan Toledo from TAU
E-mail: Eitam.arnon<@>mail.huji.ac.il
Dr. Jonathan Tichon
Jonathan is interested in: (1) conservation-oriented studies of threatened species; (2) behavioral studies linked with species distribution and movement across space; (3) sociality, and its underlying evolutionary processes; and (4) estimating key state variables of wildlife populations. Currently he studies the interactions between the demography and movements of Harod- and Spring-Valleys’ golden jackal population, and regional rabies outbreaks.
E-mail: tichon<@>gmail.com