Prof. Itzhak Mizrahi (pictured below) was one of three winners in the Research Track of the inaugural Climate Solutions Prize. The prize was awarded recently at a gala celebration in the Hulda Forest.
The award is a joint initiative of JNF Canada, KKL-JNF Israel and Start-Up Nation Central and its purpose is to promote Israeli researchers and entrepreneurs who offer solutions for the global climate crisis, to position Israel as a global center for climate technology innovation. The grant is an incentive that will accelerate the mobilization of the Israeli research and tech world to find solutions.
"I am honored and humbled that my research was chosen to receive this prize. There is a lot of work to be done if we are to reduce global warming," Prof. Mizrahi said.
Above: Prof. Itzhak Mizrahi (right) pictured with BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz at the award ceremony.
Prof. Mizrahi will split the $1 million prize money with the other two scientists. Prof. Mizrahi won for “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change by rational design of ruminants' microbiome." Prof. Mizrahi engineers cows' microbiome to reduce the amount of methane they produce, a significant source of greenhouse gases.
The other winners in the Research Track are Prof. Avner Rothschild of the Technion for “decoupled water electrolysis for green hydrogen production at scale" and Prof. Malachi Noked of Bar Ilan University for “Development of sodium-ion batteries."
Prof. Mizrahi is at the forefront of his field globally. He is the recipient of several of the most prestigious competitive research grants such as several ERC grants and a DIP grant, among others.
He was also part of the driving force behind new EU research grants in the field of the agricultural microbiome.
