Prof. Ehud Spanier is a full professor in the Department of Maritime Civilizations and The Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, and served, for many years as the head of the institute and the department. He obtained his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Zoology from Tel-Aviv University and his Ph.D. in Oceanography and Marine Biology from the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, USA. Prof. Spanier currently serves on several national and international scientific and academic committees and was president of the Israel Society for Ecology and Environmental Quality Sciences for several years. He has been studying the ecology, behavior and behavioral ecology of marine fish and invertebrates (especially lobsters), ecology of artificial reefs, biogeography of marine animals and biology of invasive marine organisms. He also studied the Murex marine snails which were the source of the ancient dye industry (the Royal Purple- Argaman & the Biblical Blue – Tekhelet) and is the Israeli expert on dangerous marine animals. Prof. Spanier has published over 110 scientific publications and 4 books.

E-mail: spanier@research.haifa.ac.il