Dr. Katja Irob is a computational biologist and dryland ecologist researching how climate change alters the composition and functioning of Mediterranean woodlands and how it affects the benefits that this ecosystem provides. Combining modelling and fieldwork, she studies the resilience of Mediterranean woodlands under climate extremes, focusing on how to manage these systems to enhance their ability to withstand future climatic challenges sustainably.

Katja studies the resilience of Mediterranean woodlands under climate extremes, focusing on how to enhance their ability to withstand future climatic challenges sustainably.

Katja earned her BSc, MSc, and PhD at the Freie Universität Berlin, including research stays in La Réunion and Australia. Her PhD research, conducted in Namibia, investigated how the diversity of wild herbivores and plant functional types can strengthen savannah resilience against climate shifts and uncertainties. Raised in Berlin, Germany, she now resides in Tel Aviv, where she volunteers at an animal shelter and enjoys running, reading, ceramics, and marine sports.

Dr. Kay Malte Bischof is a postdoctoral researcher in the field of philosophy. His research concerns our idea of God and addresses the question: Should I be a Spinozist or a theist? Whereas Spinozists claim that God and the world are one, theists claim that God and the world are distinct. Our answer determines whether we see ourselves vanishing into the eternal substance (Spinozism) or asserting our independent existence as mortal beings (theism).

Kay asks us to reflect on whether we align more with Spinozism— seeing ourselves as part of an eternal, unified substance—or theism, where we assert our individuality within a world distinct from God.

Kay Malte earned his PhD in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to Notre Dame, he earned an MSt in theology from the University of Oxford and an MLitt in philosophy from the University of St Andrews. Before that, he studied English literature, rhetoric, and Protestant theology at King’s College London, Yale University, and the University of Tübingen. Originally from Cologne, Germany, Kay Malte now lives in Jerusalem. He’s a passionate teacher and volunteers in prisons for both kids and adults.

Tom Parnass is a PhD candidate specializing in Jewish thought, focusing on early modern Jewish intellectual history, particularly Kabbalah, the Jewish esoteric literature. He studies the development of Lurianic Kabbalah, a central form of modern Jewish mysticism that originated with Rabbi Isaac Luria. Tom explores how Luria’s teachings, developed in the sixteenth-century town of Safed, were reshaped by his students in Damascus and Jerusalem. Originally centred on the master’s insights into his disciples’ souls, these teachings were transformed into a spiritual ethos that profoundly impacted contemporary Jewish culture. Tom’s work emphasizes the adaptation of religious- esoteric knowledge to meet the varying needs of specific groups and contexts.

Tom’s work emphasizes the adaptation of religious-esoteric knowledge to meet the varying needs of specific groups and contexts.

Tom holds a BA and MA in history from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He lives in Tekoah with his wife. Tom has done volunteer work in shelters for children who have suffered abuse. In his free time, he enjoys playing traditional Turkish music on his saz and spending time with family and friends.