Chairperson of the teaching committee at the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies and Co-Chairperson of the program from the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research: Prof. Michal Segoli; Chairperson of the teaching committee at the Life Science Department and Co-Chairperson from the Faculty of Natural Sciences: Prof. Ofer Ovadia.
Evolutionary Ecology Academic Program
The M.Sc. program in Ecology and Nature Conservation is a two-year program.
Academic Program for students who began from November 2024
Students are required to have earned a B.Sc. in Life Sciences or an equivalent degree.
Students without sufficient background will be required to complete individually-prescribed courses for no academic credit, typically yet not exclusively, including the courses or their equivalents listed here:
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 201-1-9431 | The Mathematics of Systems 1 | 0 | |
| 204-1-1531 & 204-1-1543 | Dr. Arik Mimon Dr. Barak Akabayov | General Chemistry B General Chemistry - Laboratory | 0 |
| 205-1-9011 | Prof. Jerry Eichler & Prof. Amir Sagi | The Cell | 0 |
| 205-1-1611 | Prof. Dan Mishmar & Dr. Ramon Birnbaum | Genetics A | 0 |
| 205-1-1221 & 205-1-1223 or 205-1-1021 & 205-1-1031 | Prof. Khalil Kashkush Mr. Liron Goren Prof. Uri Abadi Prof. Amos Bouskila | Plant science A Invertebrate Zoology | 0 |
| 205-1-3211 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia and Ms. Ella Pachter Zafrir | Ecology B | 0 |
001-2-3037 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky Dr. Shimon Bershtein | Tutorial in Evolution (can be completed during the program) Evolution | 0 |
001-2-3021 | Prof. Itamar Giladi Prof. Ofer Ovadia | Biostatistics (can be completed during the program) | 0 |
Students are required to complete the following courses during the two-year program:
| Subject | Credits |
A. Mandatory program courses B. Mandatory track courses C. Limited choice – program courses D. Limited choice – track courses E. Elective courses within the program F. Elective courses outside the program | 30 |
| Thesis Writing | 12 |
| Total | 42 |
Students are required to attend at least 80% of the Departmental Seminars and Workshops in each semester, throughout their studies.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-6666 | Dr. Shirli Bar–David | Departmental Seminar (every semester) | 0 |
| 205-2-2524 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2522 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2523 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2521 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-5021 | Dr. Moshe Kiflawi | Methods in Ecology (An eight-day intensive course offered during the FALL break) | 3 |
| 205-2-1601 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia | Ecology of Populations | 3 |
In the third and fourth semesters, students must register for 'Thesis Writing':
| Course # | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9991 | Thesis Writing A | 6 |
| 001-2-9992 | Thesis Writing B | 6 |
Students who have completed the above Thesis Writing courses and continue their studies for a fifth semester must register for the following course:
| Course # | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1000 | Thesis Writing – Continuation | 0 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3084 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
Limited choice courses belong to two course lists:
List C: Limited choice - program courses
List D: Limited choice - track courses
Students are required to complete at least 1 courses from list C and a total of 4 courses from lists C and D
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3083 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Community Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-8031 | Prof. Yaron Ziv | Spatial Ecology | 3 |
Limited choice courses belong to two course lists:
List C: Limited choice - program courses
List D: Limited choice - track courses
Students are required to complete at least 1 courses from list C and a total of 4 courses from lists C and D
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3001 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Evolutionary Ecology of Phenotypic Plasticity | 3 |
| 001-2-3020 | Prof. Merav Seifan | The Ecology of Plant-Animal Interactions | 3 |
| 001-2-3039 | Prof. Boris Krasnov | Evolutionary Ecology of Parasitism | 3 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation Genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3082 | Prof. Itamar Giladi | Ecology and Evolution of Dispersal | 3 |
| 001-2-3085 | Prof. Uri Roll | Conservation Biology: Philosophy and Ethics | 2 |
| 001-2-3086 | Prof. Hadas Hawlena | Microbial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3087 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Conservation Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-3089 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Animal Behavior in Conservation Biology | 3 |
| 001-2-3093 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Arthropod Behavior and Agroecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3094 | Prof. Uri Roll | Marcoecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3335 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Camp Evolution | 2 |
| 205-2-7031 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Mathematical Models for the Study of Animal Behavior | 3 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3023 | Prof. Carmi Korine & Prof. Berry Pinshow | Echolocation and Bat-Insect Interactions in Desert Habitats | 3 |
| 001-2-3035 | Prof. B. Pinshow, Prof. Scott Turner and Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Online Course | 2 |
| 001-2-3047 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Global changes and the biodiversity crisis | 2 |
| 001-2-3099 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Molecular Ecology and Evolution | 2 |
| 001-2-3100 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Genetic Monitoring of Wildlife Populations | 2.5 |
| 001-2-3101 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Insect Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3102 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Topics in Behavioural Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3103 | Dr. Sofia Bouchebti | Sociality in Animals | 3 |
| 001-2-3104 | Dr. Sofia Bouchebti | Academic job search | 2 |
| 001-2-3135 | Prof. B. Pinshow, Prof. Scott Turner and Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Field Workshop (it is not sure if or when it will be able to travel to Gobabeb Namib Research Institute for the workshop) | 2 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation Genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3078 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Personal Projects in Evolutionary Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3089 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Animal Behavior in Conservation Biology | 3 |
| 001-2-3091 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Contemporary Topics in Israeli Nature Conservation –Workshop | 3 |
| 001-2-3092 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | The Use of Animal Cognition Principles in Conservation | 3 |
| 001-2-3093 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Arthropod Behavior and Agroecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3333 | Prof. Boris Krasnov | Guided Reading on the Ecology of Parasites and Parasitism | 2 |
| 001-2-3344 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Guided Reading on Molecular Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3355 | Prof. Hadas Hawlana | Guided Reading in Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 205-2-1609 | Dr. Shai Pilosof | Networks in Biology-Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-4162 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Insect Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-7031 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Mathematical Models for the Study of Animal Behavior | 3 |
| 205-2-7032 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Solving Problems with R | 2 |
Courses from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences at Eilat (IUI):
You may participate in one course per semester and in no more than two courses during the 2-year program. Students might register to more elective courses in the IUI, with the recommendation of the advisor and the approval of the teaching committee.
For more information please click here >>
Courses are in Hebrew except international courses.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2079 | Prof. Vered Tzin | Chemical Ecology Spring Workshop | 2 |
| 001-2-2081 | Dr. Tarin Paz-Kagan and Dr. Tamir Caras | UAVs for environmental and agriculture research | 3 |
| 001-2-3079 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Scientific Presentation | 2 |
| 001-2-0153 | Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Christopher J. Arnush | Writing a Scientific Paper | 2 |
| 001-2-4022 | Prof. Ehud Meron | Pattern Formation and Spatial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-4028 | Prof. Arnon Karnieli | Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Rangelands, and Forestry (no prerequisites required) | 3 |
| 001-2-2038 | Prof. Naftali Lazarovitch | Soil Physics | 3 |
| 001-2-4029 | Prof. Yosef Ashkenazi | Introduction to Statistics and Probability | 3 |
| 001-2-5041 | Dr. Menachem Sklartz | Practical Bioinformatics for Environmental Studies | 3 |
| 001-2-6002 | Dr. Aviva Peeters | Theory and Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | 3 |
| 205-2-9531 | Dr. Tal Shai and Dr. Alal Eran | Introduction to Bioinformatics | 3 |
Academic Program for students who began up until April 2024
Students are required to have earned a B.Sc. in Life Sciences or an equivalent degree.
Students without sufficient background will be required to complete individually-prescribed courses for no academic credit, typically yet not exclusively, including the courses or their equivalents listed here:
Ecology and Nature Conservation-Prerequisites:
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 201-1-9431 | The Mathematics of Systems 1 | 0 | |
| 204-1-1531 & 204-1-1543 | Dr. Arik Mimon Dr. Barak Akabayov | General Chemistry B General Chemistry - Laboratory | 0 |
| 205-1-9011 | Prof. Jerry Eichler & Prof. Amir Sagi | The Cell | 0 |
| 205-1-1611 | Prof. Dan Mishmar & Dr. Ramon Birnbaum | Genetics A | 0 |
| 205-1-1221 & 205-1-1223 or 205-1-1021 & 205-1-1031 | Prof. Khalil Kashkush Mr. Liron Goren Prof. Uri Abadi Prof. Amos Bouskila | Plant science A Invertebrate Zoology | 0 |
| 205-1-3211 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia and Ms. Ella Pachter Zafrir | Ecology B | 0 |
001-2-3037 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky Dr. Shimon Bershtein | Tutorial in Evolution (can be completed during the program) Evolution | 0 |
001-2-3021 | Prof. Itamar Giladi Prof. Ofer Ovadia | Biostatistics (can be completed during the program) | 0 |
Students are required to complete the following courses during the two-year program:
| Subject | Credits |
A. Mandatory program courses B.Mandatory track courses C. Limited choice – program courses D. Limited choice – track courses E. Elective courses within the program F. Elective courses outside the program | 30 |
| Thesis Writing | 12 |
| Total | 42 |
Students are required to attend at least 80% of the Departmental Seminars and Workshops in each semester, throughout their studies.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-6666 | Dr. Shirli Bar–David | Departmental Seminar (every semester) | 0 |
| 205-2-2524 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2522 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2523 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2521 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Workshop in Ecology and Environmental Sciences | 0.5 |
| 205-2-5021 | Dr. Moshe Kiflawi | Methods in Ecology (An eight-day intensive course offered during the FALL break) | 3 |
| 205-2-1601 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia | Ecology of Populations | 3 |
In the third and fourth semesters, students must register for 'Thesis Writing':
| Course # | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9991 | Thesis Writing A | 6 |
| 001-2-9992 | Thesis Writing B | 6 |
Students who have completed the above Thesis Writing courses and continue their studies for a fifth semester must register for the following course:
| Course # | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1000 | Thesis Writing – Continuation | 0 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3084 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
Limited Choice Courses:
Limited choice courses belong to two course lists:
List C: Limited choice - program courses
List D: Limited choice - track courses
Students are required to complete at least 1 courses from list C and a total of 4 courses from lists C and D
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3083 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Community Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-8031 | Prof. Yaron Ziv | Spatial Ecology | 3 |
Limited Choice Courses:
Limited choice courses belong to two course lists:
List C: Limited choice - program courses
List D: Limited choice - track courses
Students are required to complete at least 1 courses from list C and a total of 4 courses from lists C and D
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3001 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Evolutionary Ecology of Phenotypic Plasticity | 3 |
| 001-2-3020 | Prof. Merav Seifan | The Ecology of Plant-Animal Interactions | 3 |
| 001-2-3039 | Prof. Boris Krasnov | Evolutionary Ecology of Parasitism | 3 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation Genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3082 | Prof. Itamar Giladi | Ecology and Evolution of Dispersal | 3 |
| 001-2-3085 | Prof. Uri Roll | Conservation Biology: Philosophy and Ethics | 2 |
| 001-2-3086 | Prof. Hadas Hawlena | Microbial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3087 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Conservation Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-3089 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Animal Behavior in Conservation Biology | 3 |
| 001-2-3093 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Arthropod Behavior and Agroecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3094 | Prof. Uri Roll | Marcoecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3335 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Camp Evolution | 2 |
| 205-2-7031 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Mathematical Models for the Study of Animal Behavior | 3 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3023 | Prof. Carmi Korine & Prof. Berry Pinshow | Echolocation and Bat-Insect Interactions in Desert Habitats | 3 |
| 001-2-3035 | Prof. B. Pinshow, Prof. Scott Turner and Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Online Course | 2 |
| 001-2-3047 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Global changes and the biodiversity crisis | 2 |
| 001-2-3099 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Molecular Ecology and Evolution | 2 |
| 001-2-3135 | Prof. B. Pinshow, Prof. Scott Turner and Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Field Workshop (it is not sure if or when it will be able to travel to Gobabeb Namib Research Institute for the workshop) | 2 |
| 001-2-3036 | Prof. Bertrand Boeken | Agroecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3034 | Prof. Bertrand Boeken | Vegetation Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3041 | Prof. Burt Kotler | Topics in Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation Genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3078 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Personal Projects in Evolutionary Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3089 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | Animal Behavior in Conservation Biology | 3 |
| 001-2-3091 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Contemporary Topics in Israeli Nature Conservation –Workshop | 3 |
| 001-2-3092 | Prof. Oded Berger-Tal | The Use of Animal Cognition Principles in Conservation | 3 |
| 001-2-3093 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Arthropod Behavior and Agroecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3333 | Prof. Boris Krasnov | Guided Reading on the Ecology of Parasites and Parasitism | 2 |
| 001-2-3344 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Guided Reading on Molecular Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3355 | Prof. Hadas Hawlana | Guided Reading in Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 205-2-1609 | Dr. Shai Pilosof | Networks in Biology-Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-2281 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Behavioral Ecology of Equids | 3 |
| 205-2-4162 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Insect Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-7031 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Mathematical Models for the Study of Animal Behavior | 3 |
| 205-2-7032 | Prof. Amos Bouskila | Solving Problems with R | 2 |
Courses from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences at Eilat (IUI):
You may participate in one course per semester and in no more than two courses during the 2-year program. Students might register to more elective courses in the IUI, with the recommendation of the advisor and the approval of the teaching committee.
For more information please click here >>
Courses are in Hebrew except international courses.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2079 | Prof. Vered Tzin | Chemical Ecology Spring Workshop | 2 |
| 001-2-3079 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Scientific Presentation | 2 |
| 001-2-0153 | Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Christopher J. Arnush | Writing a Scientific Paper | 2 |
| 001-2-4022 | Prof. Ehud Meron | Pattern Formation and Spatial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-4028 | Prof. Arnon Karnieli | Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Rangelands, and Forestry (no prerequisites required) | 3 |
| 001-2-2038 | Prof. Naftali Lazarovitch | Soil Physics | 3 |
| 001-2-4029 | Prof. Yosef Ashkenazi | Introduction to Statistics and Probability | 3 |
| 001-2-5041 | Dr. Menachem Sklartz | Practical Bioinformatics for Environmental Studies | 3 |
| 001-2-7007 | Prof. Amos Zemel | Statistical Methods | 3 |
| 001-2-7010 | Dr. Menachem Sklartz | Hands-on Introduction to R: Programming, Graphing and Statistical Exploration | 2 |
| 001-2-6002 | Dr. Aviva Peeters | Theory and Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | 3 |
| 205-2-9531 | Dr. Tal Shai and Dr. Alal Eran | Introduction to Bioinformatics | 3 |
