BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, April, 22, 2011 -- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Prof. Alon Tal, Israel's leading environmental activist, has been awarded the top prize in the first annual International Journal of River Basin Management (JRBM) competition.
Prof. Tal and his co-authors from BGU's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research were recognized for the article titled "Chemical and Biological Monitoring in Ephemeral and Intermittent Streams: A Study of Two Trans-boundary Palestinian-Israeli Watersheds." The article described the joint monitoring and restoration of the Besor and Alexander streams undertaken by the two groups.
Tal is an associate professor in BGU's Swiss Associates Institute for Dryland Environmental Research. He is the founder of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, a co-founder of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Israel's green environmental political party, of which he was recently elected co-chair.
"These trans-boundary watersheds really require coordination if we are going to restore them," Tal explains. "We sat down and tried to look at exactly what was in the water so we could clean it up. The main thing was, and I think that this is the happy news, when we got the data it was clear that we needed to work together to start solving our problems."
According to Prof. Paul Bates, editor-in- chief of JRBM of Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, UK, "In their paper, Tal and colleagues, institutes on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, came together in a spirit of cooperation to address a pressing regional environmental issue. When one also considers the trans-boundary nature of the problem and the highly complex local political context, it becomes clear what a singular achievement this work represents."
The prize was recently awarded in Vienna at the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research Conference on "The Status and Future of the World's Large Rivers" by the association's president.
"Chemical and Biological Monitoring in Ephemeral and Intermittent Streams: A Study of Two Trans-boundary Palestinian-Israeli Watersheds," International Journal of River Basin Management. Authors: Alon Tala; Nader Al Khateebb; Neta Nagoukerc; Hila Akermanc; Mousa Diabatcd; Alice Nassarb; Roey Angele; Muath Abu Sadahf; Yaron Hershkovitzg; Avital Gasithg; Amjad Aliewif; Dima Halawanib; Adam Abramsona; Amjad Assif; Jonathan B. Laronneh; Lior Asafi
Affiliations:
a Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
b Water and Environmental Development Organization (WEDO), Palestinian Authority,
c The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Israel
d Oregon State University, USA
e Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
f House of Water and Environment, Palestinian Authority,
g Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
h Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
i Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA
About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. AABGU is headquartered in Manhattan and has nine regional offices throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.aabgu.org.