Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, announced today that Dr. Mira Bar-Matthews is the recipient of the israel prize in the field of Geology, Earth Sciences, and Atmospheric Sciences for the year 2026.
The prize committee convened under the chairmanship of Prof. Nurit Shtober Zisso and with the participation of members Prof. Sigal Abramovitch and Dr. Naomi Porat. The prize committee stated in its reasoning that the award is granted to Dr. Bar-Matthews for her exceptional, groundbreaking, and globally influential scientific contribution to the study of paleoclimate from caves, and for her many years of contribution to science and society in Israel. According to them, Dr. Bar-Matthews is one of the world’s leading researchers in establishing cave sediments as an accurate, continuous, and high-resolution terrestrial climate archive, which serves as a central basis for understanding past climate changes.
The committee also noted that in pioneering and ongoing research in Soreq Cave, Dr. Bar-Matthews led to an unprecedented reconstruction of the climate in the Eastern Mediterranean over the last approximately 500,000 years. Her work created a unique climate database that became the “Rosetta Stone” of regional and global climate research, and influenced many fields including Earth sciences, water resource management, archaeology, and human studies. Her research positioned the Eastern Mediterranean as a natural laboratory for understanding the relationship between climate, environment, and humans, and became an international methodological standard.
The Israel Prize is the most important and prestigious prize awarded in the State of Israel. The prizes will be awarded on the eve of Israel’s 78th Independence Day.
Press Release | Ministry of Education | Israel Prize 2026
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