Prof. Roee Diamant

Department of Marine Technologies
Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences

Fields of Research
Underwater Acoustics; Marine Observation; Noise Pollution

DOWNLOAD BIO

SHORT BIO

I completed my BSc and MSc at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, my PhD at the University of British Columbia (Canada) where I received the Vanier Fellowship and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Padova (Italy), all in Electrical Engineering. My background also includes an MA in Philosophy (University of Haifa) and a long career in Industry, where I was an algorithm designer at several startups and a project manager at Rafael Ltd.  Currently, I am an Associate Professor at the Hatter Dep. of Marine Technologies, and the head of the University of Haifa Marine Observatory THEMO. I am also an EU ERA Chair Professor at the University of Zagreb (Croatia). I serve as an editor of the IEEE Journal of Ocean Engineering, the Coordinator of the EU H2020 project SYMBIOSIS, and the acoustic in-charge of Project CETI to decode the Language of Sperm whales.

My research is directed to marine remote sensing for sustainability and focuses on underwater acoustics and marine observatories. I develop technologies for underwater communication, navigation, object detection, and noise measurements. Research application examples are studying the effects of noise pollution, detection of dolphins, finding submerged mines, and marine robotics. In my free time, I am a Karate Instructor and love to scuba dive, hike and ski with my family.

Leading in the Monitoring and Detection of Threats to the Marine Environment

“The State of Israel is in every sense an island economy that depends heavily on the sea. In light of the major offshore oil spill in 2020 and the expansion of major gas rigs in Israel’s territorial waters, it is imperative that Israel monitor its maritime regions. For these reasons, THEMO – an oceanographic, biological, and chemical buoy system – was created. Scientists use the data collected by this observatory, located 11 km west of Nahariya and 60 km west of Haifa, to study the effects of pollution and climate change on the marine environment. The information is shared freely and open to all.” – Prof. Roee Diamant

FUNDRAISING NEEDS

THEMO is a complex of two marine observatories located in the coastal zone of the Levant Basin of the Mediterranean Sea (125m) and after the continental shelf (1500m). The two moorings transmit data from 50 sensors and serve as Israel only offshore marine observatory that freely shares information in real-time. This makes THEMO ideal for exploration of marine pollution, analysis of climate change rates, and alert of catastrophic events like Tsunami waves and oil pollution. The project is directly funded by the University of Haifa. In order to continue its operation, THEMO requires a stable, long term, budget commitment. The impact is huge: time series of marine data to foresee climate changes. See more in LINK.

We are also looking for funding to support our efforts to explore the impacts of noise pollution on marine animals: dolphins, fish and sea turtles, with the aim to standardize radiated noise from vessels.

SDG Goals:

Meet more of Our Ambassadors