The Beth David Synagogue Luncheon Speaker Series will continue its focus on the Dead Sea, but this time from an earth scientist’s perspective: Tim Lowenstein will speak on “What Can the Dead Sea Salt Tell Us?” on Saturday, November 11. “We are extremely fortunate,” organizers said, “to have as our speaker one of the world’s leading experts on the salt deposits of the Dead Sea. As all those who attend will see, his topic is of utmost relevance to our world today.” People are encouraged to attend the morning service, which begins at 9:30 am. There is no charge for the luncheon.
A member of Binghamton University’s Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies since 1985, Lowenstein and his team have been doing research on the Dead Sea since 2018. The project is sponsored by the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation and will continue through 2024. Lowenstein and two post-graduate students, in conjunction with a scientist from the Israel Geological Survey, are examining what can be learned by looking at the salt deposits that have formed as the level of the Dead Sea has dropped more than 30 meters over the last 40 years. “How salt deposits help us understand lakes, climate change and human disturbance are the focal points of our research,” Lowenstein said. “I look forward to sharing our findings and their implications.”
Lowenstein is an author of more than 135 peer-reviewed papers and has given close to 200 conference presentations. He became a distinguished professor in 2016, a promotion and honor that recognizes a researcher’s prominence in their field at the national or international level. Lowenstein has received more than $2.8 million in external grant funding. Among his awards are the Israel C. Russell Award in Limnogeology from the Geological Society of America in 2012 and the Lawrence L. Sloss Award in Sedimentary Geology from the Geological Society of America in 2016. He is a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, Society of Economic Geologists, and the Geological Society of America.