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Dr. Yael Levenson

Hebrew
Contact Info

The Open University of Israel Department of Natural Sciences One University Road P.O.B. 808 Ra’anana 4353701, Israel
Office:09-7782007 Fax:09-7780661 Email:yaellev@openu.ac.il

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Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources
Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2011 - 2016
Thesis: Water-rock-interaction in carbonate rocks at the nanoscale.
Supervisor: Dr. Simon Emmanuel

M.Sc. magna cum laude in Oceanography 
Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2008-2010
Thesis: Biomineralization processes in foraminifera under different salinity conditions.
Supervisors: Prof. Jonathan Erez and Dr. Ahuva Almogi-Labin

B.Sc. magna cum laude in Geology and Atmospheric Science
Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2004-2007

Courses coordinator, The Open University of Israel
2017- present
Courses: Secrets of the Earth (20117), Introduction to Oceanography (20493), The Mediterranean Coast of Israel (20901), Applied Geology (20307), Geology of the Carmel (20321), Characterization methods of minerals and rocks (20548).

Teaching Fellows, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2022-2023
Course: Introduction to Geology for Agriculture Students (71617)

Teaching assistant, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2008 - 2010, 2012 - 2016
Courses: Minerals and Rocks, Introduction to Paleontology, Introduction to Geochemistry.

Member, The Open University Senate
2025-present

Member, Subcommittee for Natural Sciences
2020-present

Member, Teaching Committee of the Department of Natural Sciences
2022-2026

Advisor to Earth Sciences students
2019- present

Courses Development, The Open University of Israel
2019- 2020
Course: Geology of the Carmel (20321)
2020-2023
Course: Secrets of the Earth (20117)

Academic supervision of seminar projects 
2018-present

Staff Scientist at the Microbeam Laboratory, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2017- 2020
Technician and operator of the Electron Probe Micro-analyzer (EPMA) at the Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences.

Research assistant, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2006 –2007
Research assistant at the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan Erez of Biomineralization research.

Research assistant, Geological Survey of Israel
2005 –2006
Research assistant at the laboratory of Dr. Ahuva Almogi-Labin of Paleontology.

Tour guide, Jewish National Fund
2002-2007

Rieger Foundation and The JNF Fellowship 2014-2015

Faculty award of best poster in Earth Science 2015

CAMBR‏ Fellowship for Nano-science Resources 2014-2016

Laivand Fellowship for Energy Resources Research 2012

Faculty award of best poster in Earth Science 2012

Rene & Henry Baster of western Australia SEAF Fellowship 2010

Microscopy:
Expertise in electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA)
Expertise in atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Skilled in other nano-characterization methods: SEM, VSI, XRD, confocal microscopy.

Software:
GIS, Microsoft office, 3D printing

Programming:
Python, MATLAB

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Levenson, Y., Eiler, J.M., Wurgaft, E., Neagu, N., Ebert, Y., Ryb, U. (2026) Two-Stage Dolomite Formation in Carbonate Platforms Revealed by Carbonate Clumped Isotope Thermometry, Geophysical Research Letters, 53.

Girnun, J., Emmanuel, S., Levenson, Y. and Anovitz, L. M. (2020) Quantification of mechanical compaction and cementation during contact metamorphism of sandstone, Journal of Structural Geology, 136. 

Levenson, Y. and Emmanuel, S. (2017) Reply to comment on "Repulsion between calcite crystals and grain detachment during water–rock interaction" by Le Merrer and Colombani, 2017, Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 6, 3-4.

Levenson, Y., Ryb U. and Emmanuel, S. (2017) Comparison of field and laboratory weathering rates in carbonate rocks from an Eastern Mediterranean drainage basin, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 465, 176-183.

Levenson, Y. and Emmanuel, S. (2017) Repulsion between calcite crystals and grain detachment during water–rock interaction, Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 3, 133-141.

Levenson, Y. and Emmanuel, S. (2016) Quantifying micron-scale grain detachment during weathering experiments on limestone, Geochimica et Cosmoschimica Acta, 173, 86–96.

Levenson, Y., Schiller, M., Kreisserman, Y, and Emmanuel, S. (2015) Calcite dissolution rates in texturally diverse calcareous rocks, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 406 (1), 81-94.

Vigier, N., Rollion-Bard, C., Levenson, Y. and Erez, J. (2015) Lithium isotopes in foraminifera shells as a novel proxy for the ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 347, 43–51.

Emmanuel, S. and Levenson, Y. (2014) Carbonate weathering rates accelerated by micron-scale grain detachment, Geology 42, 751-754.


Levenson, Y. and Emmanuel, S. (2013) Pore-scale heterogeneous reaction rates on a dissolving limestone surface, Geochimica et Cosmoschimica Acta, 119, 188-197.

Levenson Y., Israeli Y. (2026) Geoscience Teaching in the AI Era: From Knowledge Transfer to Skill Development. The Israel Geological Society conference, Kefar Blum, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Eiler J., Wurgaft E., Neagu N., Ebert Y., Ryb U. (2025) Two-Stage Dolomitization in Carbonate Platforms: Insights from Clumped Isotope Thermometry and U-Pb Dating. The Israel Geological Society conference, Ma'ale Hahamisha, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Eiler J., Wurgaft E., Neagu N., Ebert Y., Ryb U. (2024) Two-step dolomitization of Cretaceous carbonate platform at Mt. Carmel. The Israel Geological Society conference, Jerusalem, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Israeli Y. (2023) Virtual Reality (VR) in Geological Teaching: Enhancing the Learning Experience. The Israel Geological Society conference, Ein-Gedi, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Korngreen D., Bialik, M. O., Jurkovšek and B. and Kolar-Jurkovšek T. (2020) Coupling of Cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging and Electron Probe (EPMA) analysis showing Mg participation in CL in carbonates. The Israel Geological Society conference, Ma'ale Hahamisha, Israel. 

Levenson Y., Ryb U. and Emmanuel S. (2016) Field weathering rates of carbonate rocks NOT limited by mineral dissolution kinetics. The Israel Geological Society conference, Eilat, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y. and Emmanuel S. (2015) Quantifying Micron-Scale Grain Detachment during Weathering Experiments on Limestone. Goldschmidt conference, Prague, Czech Republic. Poster presentation.

Levenson Y. and Emmanuel S. (2015) Quantifying micron-scale grain detachment during simulated carbonate weathering experiments. The Israel Geological Society conference, Kinar, Israel. Poster presentation.

Emmanuel, S. and Levenson, Y. (2014) Extreme limestone weathering rates due to micron-scale grain detachment. EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria.

Levenson Y. and Emmanuel S. (2014) Nano-scale mechanisms affecting reaction rates in carbonate rocks. The Israel Geological Society conference, En Boqeq, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y. and Emmanuel S. (2013) Heterogeneous reaction rates in porous and fractured media. The Israeli Association of Water Resources conference, Caesarea, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Erez J. and Almogi-Labin A. (2011) Sea water vacuolization dynamics in benthic foraminifera studied with the fluorescent probe Calcein.  The Israeli Association of Aquatic Sciences conference, Havat Heftziba, Israel. Oral presentation.

Levenson Y., Erez J. and Almogi-Labin A. (2009) Biomineralization processes in foraminifera: Using Calcein as a tracer for calcification under different salinity conditions. The Israel Geological Society conference, Kefar Blom, Israel. Poster presentation.

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Characterization of rocks and geological processes at the micron-scale.
Geochemistry, Minerology, Carbonates weathering, Water-Rock interaction.

Grants and Funding
Internal Research Grant, The Open University of Israel – “Partial dolomitization in Cretaceous carbonate rocks as a possible solution to the ‘dolomite problem’”.
Amount: 40,000 NIS | Grant No. 511577 (41351) |2020 - present