Prof. Yuval Sapir
Current Director of the Botanic Garden
Prof. Yuval Sapir has served as the Director of the Botanic Garden since 2009.
Yuval Sapir was born in 1969. He completed his academic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focusing on biology, evolution, systematics, and ecology. For his doctoral dissertation (2004), supervised by Professor Avi Shmida, he investigated the pollination systems of the Royal Irises (Iris section Oncocyclus) and the impact of pollinator preferences on the evolution of floral traits.
During his postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University, Prof. Sapir researched the genetic basis of floral traits in sunflowers and how these traits influence pollinator behavior. In another project, he screened multiple loci in a desert-adapted sunflower species to identify genes under strong natural selection.
Current Research and Academic Focus
Today, Prof. Sapir’s research lies at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and genetics. His work focuses on ecological influences on evolutionary processes and the genetic structures that enable organisms to adapt to their environments, specifically regarding plant interactions with both biotic and abiotic environmental conditions.
Prof. Sapir is currently investigating the pollination networks associated with Royal Irises in the context of habitat fragmentation and environmental degradation along Israel’s coastal plain. This research, funded by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, also examines how fragmentation affects plant and bee species diversity – factors that are critical to the healthy functioning of pollination networks.
Concurrently, Prof. Sapir is studying the evolutionary impacts of climate change. He investigates selection regimes on various plant traits through experimental treatments that simulate increased or decreased rainfall over several generations, conducted across Israel's Mediterranean and semi-arid climatic zones.
Professor Yuval Sapir’s Researcher Page
