The International Association for Open Knowledge on Invasive Alien Species, INVASIVESNET, is pleased to announce that Bella Galil is awarded Life Honorary Membership of the Association.

 Prof. Galil is a curator in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv, Israel, and contributing scientist to a number of renowned international organizations such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

 Previously she was as a Senior Scientist with the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa and served as chairperson of the executive committee of the Zoological Society of Israel 1993-1997 and Co-chair of the scientific committee “Living Resources & Marine ecosystems”, CIESM – The Mediterranean Science Commission, 2001-2007.

 Prof. Galil is a Member of the Editorial Board of Biological Invasions and Advisory Board of INVASIVESNET open access journal Aquatic Invasions. Her published works include over 320 peer-reviewed scientific papers and four books. She published extensively on marine bioinvasions, paying special attention for the role of the Suez Canal as a pathway for the introduction of Red Sea organisms into the Mediterranean Sea.

 The Honorary Membership was remotely awarded by the President of INVASIVESNET, Prof. Frances Lucy, who praised Prof. Galil’s impactful research on bioinvasions in the Mediterranean: “Prof Bella Galil’s research has provided an outstanding contribution to the knowledge and management of Mediterranean ecosystems. She has mentored and inspired a multitude of early stage marine researchers”.

 Prof. Galil is the second Honorary Member of INVASIVESNET and joins Prof. James Carlton who received the honorary title in 2018 (read more). She describes her own life's work as “rooted in the intense wonder best expressed by the poet of the Psalms - The sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number - living things both large and small.”