David Iluz

Researcher and lecturer in Bar Ilan University, Israel. He obtained his Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University in 1998 summa cum laude, and spent his postdoctoral fellowship at Hebrew University, Israel; Dr. Iluz worked on the photoacclimation of marine and freshwater. The focus of his work has been the study of biooptical parameters in different biogeochemical provinces of Israel's water bodies and their relevance for estimating primary production. He developed algorithms to determine pigment concentration and composition from upwelling light, which can be estimated from underwater in situ light spectra or by satellite remote sensing. Additional projects combining his interests in archeology and biology, were the study of the chemistry and molecular biology of pigments obtained from scale aphids. He identified a species of Kermes oak coccid that grew in Israel, the aphid from which the precious Biblical scarlet dye [tola’at shani] was extracted, providing new insights on the ancient dye trade. Dr. Iluz participated in several research expeditions to Red Sea coral reefs, collected and analized bioptical data from the First Israel-Eritrea Joint Cruise, the GAP-IOLR cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean, and in the First Israel-Seychelles Joint Cruise to the Indian Ocean. He has published 36 scientific papers and is the recipient of several international and Israeli grants.