Last week (4th to 12th September), two 2 Ph.D. students from the Carbonate Lab, Bruno Lauper and Jean-Charles Schaegis, seized the opportunity to discover the regional geology of Israel within the framework of the CUSO (Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale) doctoral school program. This excursion, entitled “The impact of tectonics and climate in the Dead Sea area: a land bridge for humans out of Africa”, was organized jointly by Prof. Daniel Ariztegui (University of Geneva) and Dr. Nicolas Waldmann (University of Haifa).
The group composed of 23 students from different Swiss and Israeli institutions started their geological journey in erosional craters in the Negev Desert, headed north along the Dead Sea transform fault, climbed up the basaltic plateau of the Golan Heights, followed partly the Lebanese border and the Mount Meron before reaching the Mediterranean Sea in Haifa. Beside pure geology, different archeological sites were visited and different topics such as the migration of early humans or the use of water in desert arid were approached.
Jean-Charles and Bruno greatly enjoyed this experience and noticed the importance of such excursions not only for diversifying their geological skills, but also for increasing the links between early career scientists from different universities and different research fields, as well as for enhancing future collaboration. Jean-Charles and Bruno would like to thanks warmly the organizers for this amazing experience that left their minds full of souvenirs and their stomachs full of humus.
