Noam Weisbrod (Hebrew: נעם ויסברוד) is a Hydrology Professor (Alain Poher Chair in Hydrogeology and Arid Zone Research) at the Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR), which is part of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR) at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Weisbrod served as director of ZIWR from 2015 to 2018. In 2018 he became director of BIDR and was reelected for a second term in summer 2022.[1]

Noam Weisbrod
Born1964 (age 59–60)
NationalityIsraeli
Scientific career
FieldsHydrology
InstitutionsBen-Gurion University of the Negev
Doctoral advisorProf. Ronit Nativ, Prof. Daniel Ronen, Prof. Eilon Adar
Websitein.bgu.ac.il/en/bidr/ziwr/ehm/Pages/staff/weisbrod.aspx

Career

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Weisbrod earned his undergraduate (1990) and graduate degrees (MSc, with distinction: 1993; PhD: 1999) from the Department of Soil and Water Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1999 he joined the Department of Bioengineering (now Biological & Ecological Engineering), Oregon State University as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2002 he returned to Israel where he joined the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). During the summer of 2012, he held a Visiting Professorship at the Chinese Academy of Science, Chengdu. At Ben Gurion University, he has held numerous academic administration positions: from 2009 to 2015 he was the Head of the Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology at the ZIWR, and he also served as the Director of the Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation (2013-2015). In 2015 he was elected as the ZIWR Director and in 2018 he was elected as the BIDR Director. Weisbrod has supervised more than 50 graduate students and served in numerous committees and panels. He has been involved in various international missions and evaluation panels to assess local water realities, in places like Chile, Inner Mongolia, Namibia[2] and the Galapagos Islands. He was a member of the steering committee for BGU – University of Chicago cooperation in Water Sciences,[3] and the steering committee for “BusinessH2O – Water management best practices from USA and Israel”.[4][5]

Research

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Prof. Weisbrod has supervised more than 50 graduate students, and co-authored more than 110 scientific papers in the subject of Earth sciences and Environmental sciences. These include research in the following areas and subjects.

Subsurface flow and transport processes (emphasizing colloid and colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants)

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Research involving the exploration of processes and mechanisms related to flow and transport phenomena in the subsurface and at the Earth-atmosphere interface, for example:

  • New method for sampling groundwater colloids under natural gradient flow conditions.[6]
  • Light transmission technique for the evaluation of colloidal transport and dynamics in porous media.[7]
  • Impact of particle size on colloid transport in discrete fracture.[8]
  • Colloid transport through saturated sand columns and the influence of physical and chemical surface properties on deposition.[9]
  • Colloid-facilitated transport of lead in natural discrete fractures.[10]

Fractures and discontinuities

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The role of surface-exposed fractures in groundwater salinization and earth-atmosphere gas exchanges and the role of fractures and other discontinuities within the Earth's surface, items which fundamentally impact the Earth-atmosphere interaction, for example:

  • The role of fractures in Earth-atmosphere gas exchange.[11]
  • The cause and effect pathways of atmospheric winds and fracture ventilation.[12]

Soil evaporation

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Soil evaporation and the impact of various soil and atmospheric conditions on this process, including the links between soil evaporation and salinization, for example:

  • The use of fluorescent dyes as tracers in highly saline groundwater.[13]
  • Combined evaporation and salt precipitation in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media.[14]

Contaminants

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The transport of contaminants (salts, VOC's, perchlorate, Cr, explosives, pesticides, radionuclides and pharmaceutical waste) below industrial zones and non-point source pollution (mainly agriculture). These include the issues surrounding in situ bioremediation and the transport mechanisms of various contaminants, for example:

  • Impact of intermittent rainwater and wastewater flow on coated and uncoated fractures in chalk.[15]
  • Accumulation of oil and grease in soils irrigated with greywater and their potential role in soil water repellency.[16]
  • Steady-state homogeneous approximations of vertical velocity from EC profiles.[17]
  • Isotopic evidence and quantification assessment of in situ RDX biodegradation in the deep unsaturated zone.[18]
  • Observations on vertical variability in groundwater quality and the implications for aquifer management.[19]
  • Decentralized wetland-based treatment of oil-rich farm wastewater for reuse in an arid environment.[20]
  • Modeling the impact of solute recycling on groundwater salinization under irrigated lands, involving a study of the Alto Piura aquifer in Peru.[21]

Salt and fresh water

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Subsurface processes along the Dead-Sea shore, including the influences of salt and fresh-water, for example:

  • Line-source multi-tracer test for assessing high groundwater velocity.[22]
  • Colloid transport in porous media and the impact of hyper-saline solutions.[23]
  • Dynamic dissolution of halite rock during flow of diluted saline solutions.[24]

Rural water access and development

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Problems involving rural water access and development, for example:

  • Adapting enzyme-based microbial water quality analysis to remote areas in low-income countries.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research". in.bgu.ac.il.
  2. ^ "UNCCD - COP 11-Namibia". unccd.int. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  3. ^ "BGU and University of Chicago to Expand Cooperation in the Field of Game Changing Water Initiatives - Institute for Molecular Engineering". ime.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  4. ^ "Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - First BusinessH2O Summit Held". in.bgu.ac.il. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  5. ^ "U.S. Chamber BusinessH2O Summit Promotes Water Management Best Practices from the U.S. and Israel". U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  6. ^ Weisbrod, Noam; Ronen, Daniel; Nativ, Ronit (1996-09-01). "New Method for Sampling Groundwater Colloids under Natural Gradient Flow Conditions". Environmental Science & Technology. 30 (10): 3094–3101. doi:10.1021/es960197o. ISSN 0013-936X.
  7. ^ Weisbrod, Noam; Niemet, Michael R.; Selker, John S. (2003-08-01). "Light Transmission Technique for the Evaluation of Colloidal Transport and Dynamics in Porous Media". Environmental Science & Technology. 37 (16): 3694–3700. doi:10.1021/es034010m. ISSN 0013-936X.
  8. ^ Zvikelsky, Ori; Weisbrod, Noam (2006-12-01). "Impact of particle size on colloid transport in discrete fractures". Water Resources Research. 42 (12): W12S08. doi:10.1029/2006wr004873. ISSN 1944-7973.
  9. ^ Shani, Christiane; Weisbrod, Noam; Yakirevich, Alexander (2008). "Colloid transport through saturated sand columns: Influence of physical and chemical surface properties on deposition". Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 316 (1–3): 142–150. doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2007.08.047.
  10. ^ Tang, Xiang-Yu; Weisbrod, Noam (2009). "Colloid-facilitated transport of lead in natural discrete fractures". Environmental Pollution. 157 (8–9): 2266–2274. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2009.03.034. PMID 19395135.
  11. ^ Weisbrod, Noam; Dragila, Maria Inés; Nachshon, Uri; Pillersdorf, Modi (2009-01-01). "Falling through the cracks: The role of fractures in Earth-atmosphere gas exchange". Geophysical Research Letters. 36 (2): L02401. doi:10.1029/2008gl036096. ISSN 1944-8007.
  12. ^ Nachshon, Uri; Dragila, Maria; Weisbrod, Noam (2012-06-01). "From atmospheric winds to fracture ventilation: Cause and effect". Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 117 (G2): G02016. doi:10.1029/2011jg001898. ISSN 2156-2202.
  13. ^ Magal, Einat; Weisbrod, Noam; Yakirevich, Alex; Yechieli, Yoseph (2008). "The use of fluorescent dyes as tracers in highly saline groundwater". Journal of Hydrology. 358 (1–2): 124–133. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.05.035.
  14. ^ Nachshon, Uri; Weisbrod, Noam; Dragila, Maria I.; Grader, Abraham (2011-03-01). "Combined evaporation and salt precipitation in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media". Water Resources Research. 47 (3): W03513. doi:10.1029/2010wr009677. ISSN 1944-7973.
  15. ^ Weisbrod, Noam; Nativ, Ronit; Adar, Eilon M.; Ronen, Daniel (1999-11-01). "Impact of intermittent rainwater and wastewater flow on coated and uncoated fractures in chalk". Water Resources Research. 35 (11): 3211–3222. doi:10.1029/1999wr900194. ISSN 1944-7973.
  16. ^ Travis, Micheal J.; Weisbrod, Noam; Gross, Amit (2008). "Accumulation of oil and grease in soils irrigated with greywater and their potential role in soil water repellency". Science of the Total Environment. 394 (1): 68–74. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.01.004. PMID 18280539.
  17. ^ Kurtzman, Daniel; Netzer, Lior; Weisbrod, Noam; Graber, Ellen R.; Ronen, Daniel (2011-03-01). "Steady-State Homogeneous Approximations of Vertical Velocity from EC Profiles". Ground Water. 49 (2): 275–279. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00720.x. ISSN 1745-6584. PMID 20533954.
  18. ^ Sagi-Ben Moshe, S.; Ronen, Z.; Dahan, O.; Bernstein, A.; Weisbrod, N.; Gelman, F.; Adar, E. (2010). "Isotopic evidence and quantification assessment of in situ RDX biodegradation in the deep unsaturated zone". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 42 (8): 1253–1262. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.04.011.
  19. ^ Netzer, Lior; Weisbrod, Noam; Kurtzman, Daniel; Nasser, Ahmed; Graber, Ellen R.; Ronen, Daniel (2011-03-01). "Observations on Vertical Variability in Groundwater Quality: Implications for Aquifer Management". Water Resources Management. 25 (5): 1315–1324. doi:10.1007/s11269-010-9746-1. ISSN 0920-4741.
  20. ^ Travis, Micheal J.; Weisbrod, Noam; Gross, Amit (2012). "Decentralized wetland-based treatment of oil-rich farm wastewater for reuse in an arid environment". Ecological Engineering. 39: 81–89. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.11.008.
  21. ^ Yakirevich, A.; Weisbrod, N.; Kuznetsov, M.; Villarreyes, C.A. Rivera; Benavent, I.; Chavez, A.M.; Ferrando, D. (2013). "Modeling the impact of solute recycling on groundwater salinization under irrigated lands: A study of the Alto Piura aquifer, Peru". Journal of Hydrology. 482: 25–39. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.12.029.
  22. ^ Magal, Einat; Weisbrod, Noam; Yakirevich, Alexander; Kurtzman, Daniel; Yechieli, Yoseph (2010-11-01). "Line-Source Multi-Tracer Test for Assessing High Groundwater Velocity". Ground Water. 48 (6): 892–897. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00707.x. ISSN 1745-6584. PMID 21105230.
  23. ^ Magal, Einat; Weisbrod, Noam; Yechieli, Yoseph; Walker, Sharon L.; Yakirevich, Alexander (2011-05-01). "Colloid transport in porous media: Impact of hyper-saline solutions". Water Research. 45 (11): 3521–3532. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.04.021. ISSN 0043-1354. PMID 21550095.
  24. ^ Weisbrod, N.; Alon-Mordish, C.; Konen, E.; Yechieli, Y. (2012-05-01). "Dynamic dissolution of halite rock during flow of diluted saline solutions". Geophysical Research Letters. 39 (9): L09404. doi:10.1029/2012gl051306. ISSN 1944-8007.
  25. ^ Abramson, Adam; Benami, Maya; Weisbrod, Noam (2013-09-17). "Adapting Enzyme-Based Microbial Water Quality Analysis to Remote Areas in Low-Income Countries". Environmental Science & Technology. 47 (18): 10494–10501. doi:10.1021/es402175n. ISSN 0013-936X. PMID 23952711.