Members

Program Director

Prof. Anna Brook


Geography and Environmental Studies, Director of Idit 
Image and signal processing, automation target recognition, sub-pixel detection, and spectral models across NIR-MIR regions
Current Research: Multi-scale and multi-sensor data fusion, machine learning for geoscience and environmental research  
abrook@geo.haifa.ac.il 

Idit PhD Scholars

Fourth Year Members

Alisa Kanterman 


Psychology
Social and affective neuropsychology, motivational mechanisms, psychopathology
PhD Research: Neural underpinnings of social motivation in loneliness 
Advisor: Prof. Simon Shamay-Tsoory
alisak@hevra.haifa.ac.il 

Ronen Shehman


Criminology
Influence of stereotypes & biases on sentencing: gender and socioeconomic status, Cyber crime, Criminological theory, Criminal law
PhD Research: Socioeconomic biases and their influence on sentencing disparities
Advisor: Prof. Avital Mentovich & Prof. Orna Rabinovich-Eini
ronens176@gmail.com 

Lara Mertens


Anthropology
Digitally-enabled sociality, religion, questions of being (ontology), reflexivity
PhD Research:  Sociality of online experience platforms (COVID-19 and beyond)
Advisor: Prof. Nurit Bird-David
lmertens@campus.haifa.ac.il

Efrat Mishor


Political Science
Risk management in emergency, risk perception, citizen trust in government, cost-benefit calculation for collective action, civic engagement in emergency, social capital
PhD Research: Factors and dynamics affecting civic engagement in emergency 
Advisor: Prof. Eran Vigoda-Gadot & Prof. Shlomo Mizrachi
efratmishor@gmail.com

Third Year Members

Shulamit Nussboim 


Geography 
Basin hydrology,  transport processes of contaminants, evaporation from lakes 
PhD Research: The fate of agrochemicals in a Mediterranean agricultural basin
Advisor: Prof. Lea Wittenberg
shulamitnus@gmail.com

Avishai Zacharia


Psychology
Self-conscious emotions, behavior analysis, intergroup conflicts 
PhD Research: Inducing prosocial behavior between groups using behavior interventions by utilizing social emotions as motivating operations.
Advisor: Dr. Keren Sharvit
zacharia.avishai@gmail.com

Danielle Yusufov 


Communication
Media work, media memory, journalistic practices, gender theories, qualitative research methods
PhD Research: Work practices and experiences of women media workers: Podcasters as a case study
Advisor: Prof. Oren Meyers & Dr. Roei Davidson
Daniul77@gmail.com

Miranda Shemesh


Sociology 
Sociology of sleep, family, childhood and parenting 
PhD Research: A sociological study of sleep in families with young children in Israel
Advisor: Dr. Dana Zarhin
miranda.shemesh@gmail.com

Shani Zohar  


Psychology 
"Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees," mindfulness, mHealth, forcibly displaced people, adaptive interventions, refugee mental health, intergenerational transmission of stress and trauma
PhD Research: Testing and optimizing the therapeutic outcomes of a mindfulness-based mobile health intervention for displaced populations using a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART)
Advisor: Prof. Amit Bernstein
shani.p.zohar@gmail.com

Second Year Members

Noga Aviad


Psychology
Mindfulness mechanisms, large-scale brain networks, data science, complex and dynamic systems
PhD Research: Using network approach to discover systemic motifs in mindfulness mechanisms
Advisor: Prof. Amit Bernstein
naviad1991@gmail.com 

Noa Birman


Political Science
Behavioral public administration, competence-based organizations, paradoxical thinking, sustainable organizations
PhD Research: Can organizational paradoxical mindset be used to foster public organizations' ability to attain sustainability? 
Advisor: Prof. Dana Vashdi
noabirman40@gmail.com 

Gili Goldin


Computer Science 
NLP (Natural Language Processing), machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence
Phd Research: Factuality and detection of "fake'' information in Hebrew texts
Advisor: Prof. Shuly Wintner
gili.sommer@gmail.com 

Felix Tener 


Information Systems
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and User Experience (UX)
PhD Research: Investigate and design novel user interfaces for teleoperation of autonomous vehicles
Advisor: Prof. Joel Lanir
felix.tener@gmail.com 

First Year Members

Ofek Edri Peer


Political Science
Street-Level bureaucracy,  social policy,  policing vulnerable populations
PhD Research: Factors encouraging street-level bureaucrats to influence policy outcomes beyond their professional jurisdiction
Advisor: Prof. Nissim Cohen
ofekedri@gmail.com

Aial Sobeh


Psychology
Social neuroscience, neuroeconomics, collective behavior 
PhD Research: Multi-Brain dynamics underlying social interactions and collective decision-making
Advisor: Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory
aealsobh123@gmail.com 

Giulia Dal Bello


Political Science
Political psychology, cyber terrorism, cyber policy
Phd Research: Psychological effects of exposure to cyber threats and public support for digital surveillance
Advisor: Prof. Daphna Canetti 
giuliadalbello1@gmail.com 

Rika Aviv


Psychology
Behavioral neuroscience, electrophysiology, optogenetics
PhD Research: The role of nigrostriatal and mesolimbic pathways in the learning of motor-causal-effect relations ('agency') in mice
Advisor: Prof. Baruch Eitam & Dr. Oded Klavir
aviv.rika@gmail.com 

Dalal Ghattas


Psychology
"Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees," intergenerational transmission of stress and trauma (via parenting, refugee mental health)
PhD Research: Testing the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and compassion-based intervention on individual mental health, domestic and intimate partner violence, and inter-generational transmission of trauma and stress to children (via parenting), in Syrian refugees.
Advisor: Prof. Amit Bernstein
dalal.ghattas@gmail.com 

Alumni

Gilad Halpern


Communication
Media history, political communication, media systems research, government-press relations
PhD Research: For King and Country: The Palestine Post and Zionist propaganda in Mandatory Palestine
giladhalpern@gmail.com 

Maria Polinova


Geography and Environmental Studies
Remote sensing, spectroscopy, photogrammetry, UAV’s, environmental monitoring, agriculture, wildfires
PhD Research: Assessing vegetation characteristics as a factor of wildfire spreading across the urban area
polinovamaria88@gmail.com

Ami Ritter


Psychology 
Behavioral neuroscience, electrophysiology, optogenetics
Phd Research: Assessing the neural network which underlies post traumatic stress disorder
ami166@hotmail.com

Ryan Shandler 


Political Science
Political psychology, cyber-terrorism, cyber policy
PhD Research: The political and psychological effects of exposure to cyber threats
ryanshandler@gmail.com 

Talia Goren 


Political Science
Public opinion, political responsiveness, political participation and engagement, social media
PhD Research: Public compliance and policy tools' effectiveness during crisis
taliagoren@gmail.com 

Orit Heimer


Psychology
Emotion, cognition interaction 
PhD Research: Short and long-term influences on the temporal dynamics of the valence representations of a stimulus
heimer.orit@gmail.com 

Eran Lambooij


Computer Science
Cryptanalysis, (symmetric) cryptography 
PhD Research: Design and analysis of cryptographic systems: Focusing on the analysis of lightweight symmetric cryptographic primitives
eranlambooij@gmail.com 

Brenda Sbarski


Psychology
PTSD, endocannabinoid system, HPA axis
PhD Research: Endocannabinoids modulation of the stress response system in a rat model of PTSD
bsbarski@gmail.com