Oren Berko was born on January 2, 1973, in the city of Eilat. He had a deep love for the sea, was an avid diver, and served in the Israeli Navy. On October 16, 1996, Oren was killed in a car accident on the outskirts of Jerusalem while working for Zoko Company.

Each year, the Berko family honors Oren’s memory and his great passion for the sea by awarding a prize to two outstanding students engaged in marine research.

The scholarships in Oren’s memory are donated by Zoko Company.

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Scholarship Recipients

Year Name Degree Topic Advisors
2024 Hadar Ela PhD Effects of currents, prey abundance, and additional factors on plankton predation by coral-reef fishes Prof. Amatzia Genin
2024 Maya Van-Helder MSc The motion of fish eggs relative to the surrounding water and its implication for oxygen transfer Prof. Uri Shavit, Prof. Roi Holzman
2023 Gal Vered PhD Exploring plastic additives in coral reef invertebrates from natural substrates versus plastic debris Prof. Noa Shenkar
2023 Yoav Avrahami PhD Boom and bust dynamics of diatoms across marked seasonal transitions in the Gulf of Aqaba Dr. Miguel Prada
2022 Federica Scoccia PhD Using artificial intelligence to examine the biomineralization response to ocean acidification of newly settled coral recruits Prof. Tali Mass
2022 Ronen Lieberman PhD The Host-Symbiont Complex of MCE Octocorals Prof. Yehuda Benayahu
2021 Dor Shefi PhD Exploring traits of engineered coral entities to be employed in reef restoration Prof. Nadav Shashar, Prof. Baruch Rinkevich
2021 Tal Pribolotsky PhD Mechanisms, performance, and ecological implications of body and fin use in herbivorous fish feeding Prof. Roi Holzman
2020 Raz Tamir PhD The effect of light on the distribution and community structure of stony corals along a 5-100 m depth gradient Prof. Yossi Loya
2020 Renanel Pickholtz PhD Patterns and drivers of habitat utilization in parrotfish (Scaridae) Prof. Jonathan Belmaker
2019 Or Ben Zvi PhD The role of coral fluorescence: Testing the major hypotheses on mesophotic corals Prof. Yossi Loya
2019 Dror Malul MSc Dancing out-of-phase: Coral tentacle stiffness evokes out-of-phase motion that improves mass transfer Prof. Uri Shavit, Prof. Roi Holzman
2018 Jessica Bellworthy PhD Are sensitive life stages, reproduction, and early development bottlenecks to the thermal resistance of reef-building corals in the Gulf of Aqaba? Prof. Maoz Fine
2018 Corinne Jacobs PhD Broad-scale patterns in the evolution of teleost suction feeding: Does the mechanism evolve to maximize suction performance? Prof. Roi Holzman
2017 Ofri Mann PhD Learning and information use in the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) Dr. Moshe Kiflawi
2017 Alexandra (Sasha) Khrizman MSc Ecology and biomechanics of garden eels Prof. Amatzia Genin
2016 Lee Shacham Eyal PhD Individual annual fecundity and reproductive energy investment in mushroom scleractinian corals Prof. Yossi Loya
2016 Natalie Tzernichovsky PhD High-resolution temporal dynamics of planktonic foraminifera assemblages and compositions in the modern Gulf of Aqaba waters Dr. Adi Torfstein, Dr. Ahava Almogi-Labin
2015 Rael Horowitz PhD Anthozoan response in high pCO₂ marine environments Prof. Maoz Fine
2015 Yaala Reuven MSc Social status, foraging behavior, and space allocation among group-forming coral-reef fish Prof. Amatzia Genin
2014 Victor Kina PhD Hydrodynamic constraints during early life stages of marine fishes Dr. Roi Holzman
2014 Tal Keren MSc Using underwater 3D video imaging to describe the complex relationship between morphological and functional variability in suction-feeding mechanisms of reef fish Dr. Roi Holzman
2013 Elizabeth Foran MSc Biogenic fish-gut calcium carbonate is a stable amorphous phase Dr. Maoz Fine
2013 Itai Cohen PhD Light-enhanced calcification and photosynthesis in stony corals Prof. Jonathan Erez, Prof. Zvy Dubinsky
2012 Gal Eyal MSc Ecology and taxonomy of mesophotic coral ecosystems in Eilat, Red Sea Prof. Yossi Loya
2012 Noam Yosef PhD Octopuses create successful camouflage by mimicking specific objects in their environment Dr. Nadav Shashar
2011 Hagit Kvit PhD Molecular mechanisms underlying coral mortality or survival following bleaching: The apoptotic pathway Dr. Dani Tchernov, Dr. Hanna Rosenfeld
2011 Dan Karlsson PhD Tides, internal waves, and mixing in the northern Gulf of Eilat Prof. Hezi Gildor
2010 Gal Dishon MSc "Optimal habitats" of phytoplankton in the Gulf of Eilat Prof. Zvy Dubinsky, Dr. David Iluz
2010 Shai Oron MSc Tracking changes in foraminifera assemblages following the removal of fish cages in the Gulf of Eilat Dr. Sigal Abramovich, Dr. Moshe Kiflawi, Dr. Beverly Goodman, Dr. Dror Angel
2009 Tali Mass PhD Flow induces higher rates of photosynthesis in marine organisms by preventing oxygen inhibition of RubisCO Prof. Amatzia Genin
2009 Shani Krief MSc Physiological and isotopic responses of corals to ocean acidification conditions Dr. Maoz Fine
2009 Yigal Bernstein MSc Characteristics of nocturnal ventilation of corals by the damselfish Dascyllus marginatus Prof. Amatzia Genin
2008 Asaf Zevoloni PhD Spatio-temporal transmission patterns of black-band disease (BBD) in a coral community Prof. Yossi Loya
2008 Margarita Zarubin MSc Eat, glow, and die – the role of zooplankton in the propagation of luminous bacteria in the sea Prof. Amatzia Genin, Prof. M. Simon
2007 Sigrid Winters-Pano PhD Environmental genomics of marine cyanobacteria Prof. A. Post
2007 Victor Kina MSc The biological market of cleaner wrasse and their reef-fish clients Dr. Moshe Kiflawi, Prof. B. Kotler
2006 Yael Zeldman MSc Colonization of artificial structures by benthic communities in Eilat: A tool for assessing artificial reef functionality Prof. Yehuda Benayahu
2006 Adi Ramon MSc Programmed cell death in reef corals due to temperature stress – Molecular and biochemical aspects Dr. Dani Tchernov
2005 Yoni Belmaker PhD The effect of habitat quality gradients across the reef on fish species diversity patterns Dr. Y. Ziv, Dr. N. Shashar
2005 Baraka Koguru PhD Microhabitat utilization, zooxanthellae clade types, and physiological stress responses in Rhodactis rhodostoma (Corallimorpharia) Dr. N. Forman, Dr. D. Tchernov, Prof. S. Bar
2004 Keren Zandbank MSc Using the ntcA gene to characterize genetic diversity in Synechococcus spp. populations Prof. A. Post
2004 Naama Rotem MSc The dynamics of electric sensing in sharks Prof. Y. Yarom
2003 Ruti Motro MSc The decline in zooplankton density near the reef: Predation or escape from predation? Prof. Amatzia Genin