Beverly Goodman-Tchernov

Academic Education:

• B.A. – Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Minors Geology, Jewish Studies)(USA) Israel (2013-2016)
• MA – Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, USA (1997-1999)
• PhD- Geology, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2001-2005)
• Postdocs: Hebrew University Jerusalem (Amotz Agnon), University of Haifa (Zvi Ben Avraham) 2006-2010
• Faculty: University of Haifa Department of Marine Geosciences

Background:

Beverly Goodman-Tchernov blends archaeology, geology and anthropology to explore the complex ways nature and humans interact on coastlines. Her work concentrates on the causes and effects of ancient environmental events like tsunamis and floods in an attempt to better understand what risks are present today and how broader climate-linked trends, such as sea-level change and fluctuations in precipitation, can be recognized in the sedimentary record. As coastal populations increase exponentially, and sea levels continue to rise, these concerns become more acute.

Current Research:

Her current research focuses on a global range of projects reconstructing and understanding the landscape and environmental changes including the Maya maritime corridors of the Yucatan, the tsunami history of the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, characterizing tsunami deposits left behind 65 million years ago from the K-T meteorite impact, and cataloguing some of the ocean’s smallest shelled creatures (foraminifera) observed by the explorers of the Pristine Seas project. She is development scientific director of the under construction Azrieli Climate and Coastal Changes Challenges HUB.  She is also co-founder and co-coordinator of the MKMS AAUS scientific diving program with Prof. Tali Mass and co-director of Caesarea Coastal Archaeological Project (C-CAP).

Publications: 

• Goodman-Tchernov, B. N., et al. (2009). “Tsunami waves generated by the Santorini eruption reached Eastern Mediterranean shores.” Geology 37(10): 943-946.
• Everhardt, C. J., et al. (2023). “Earthquake, Fire, and Water: Destruction Sequence Identified in an 8th Century Early Islamic Harbor Warehouse in Caesarea, Israel.” Geosciences 13(4).
• Şahoğlu, V., et al. (2022). “Volcanic ash, victims, and tsunami debris from the Late Bronze Age Thera eruption discovered at Çeşme-Bağlararası (Turkey).” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(1): e2114213118.