Dr. Elad Levintal

My life before BGU:​

I was born and grew up in Rishon LeZion. After my military service (which lasted longer than expected), I traveled around the country and the world, and then returned to study for a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences and sociology & anthropology at the Hebrew University. I completed my master’s and doctoral degrees at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research in Sde Boker, together with an additional master’s degree in business administration at BGU. I went to UC Davis in California for my postdoc, where I focused on groundwater enrichment methods in agricultural regions. After spending nearly three years in Davis, CA, I returned to the Zuckerberg Institute.

Why BGU?

Coming back to the same department where I did my PhD was an easy decision. The creative work environment, the fantastic people in the Department and Faculty, and the sense of working together rather than as separate labs made it an easy call. At a personal level, raising my children in the desert, and specifically at Sde Boker, is a joyous and fulfilling experience.​

My rese​arch:

My research deals with environmental issues linking the soil and the atmosphere, especially the movement of water and greenhouse gases. Mostly, I conduct field experiments at different sites across the country and use various sensors to obtain data that will help me build better models and improve my understanding of processes: For example, how do different wind speeds affect the circulation of air in soil or the greenhouse gasses emitted by abandoned wells. I also develop innovative systems for measuring environmental parameters, such as temperature and CO2 levels, using open-source sensors. I have a wide range of collaborators in this field, from laboratories in the US to high school robotics teams.