Sede Boker , Israel
Arava Institute students visit Ein Avdat, Israel (picture courtesy of the Arava Institute)
Trans-Israel Highway, Ben Shemen Interchange, Israel (no longer open space)
Nachal Zin, Israel (still open space). Picture courtesy of Alexey Sergeev
Pura Nature Reserve, Israel
Sigalit, Aviv and Na'ama; Audubon Reserve, Attleborough, Massachusetts
I am currently a visiting fellow at Brown University 's Watson Institute for International Studies and science and policy fellow with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
My Ph.D. research focused on the demographic and political drivers of land use/cover change (LUCC) in Israel and the ecological implications of those changes. The idea for my research was inspired by a book comparing circa World War I aerial photographs of Palestine with modern shots of Israel , and fueled by concern for the rapid development of Israel 's beautiful open spaces and loss of local biodiversity. My research, as with LUCC science in general, examines the intersection between human social systems and ecological systems. Most recently, I have begun to examine how ethnic tensions influence land use decision making in Israel , and expanding this investigation to other countries. I am also interested in population-environment interactions and in broader Middle East and global environmental issues.
Prior to coming to Brown, I lived in Israel for 10 years. I completed my masters research at the Mitrani Department for Desert Ecology at Ben Gurion University , where I studied the impact of leaf litter on ecosystem flows in semi-arid environments. I then taught environmental studies at the Rothberg School for Overseas Studies at Hebrew University, the WUJS Institute in Arad , and at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies . At the Arava Institute, I had the opportunity to work with environmental studies students and professionals from Israel , Palestine , Jordan and North America , which inspired me to address environmental issues at the regional scale.
At Brown, I initiated the Middle East Environment Futures Project , bringing together 40 Middle Eastern and North American environmental scholars to develop an innovative, interdisciplinary and policy relevant environmental study of Israel and Palestine. I am currently webmaster for the Jewish Global Environmental Network , in cooperation with the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership .
More Information:
Contact:
Daniel Orenstein
Box 1970, Brown University
Providence , RI 02912
daniel_orenstein@brown.edu
phone: 401.863.2499
fax: 401.863.9733