Sea squirts adventures

Growing up by the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, I developed a strong curiosity regarding marine lifeforms, along with a strong desire to protect them. I focused my efforts on pursuing an academic career as a marine biologist, developing my own field of expertise. As Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead once said: “It's not enough to be the best at what you do; you must be perceived to be the only one who does what you do.” Thus, upon completing my MSc studies on coral bleaching (2001–2003) I shifted my focus to ascidians (Chordata, Ascidiacea), a unique group of invertebrates that until then had been poorly studied in the Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. With the rapid arrival and spread of non-indigenous ascidians around the world, and the increasing use of some species as model organisms in evolution and development research, a demand has arisen to understand ascidian ecology, physiology, and taxonomy in greater depth. Following my post-doctoral training with Prof. Billie Swalla at the University of Washington, USA (2009–2011) I established my own laboratory at Tel Aviv University, School of Zoology (2012). Working with my research team at Tel Aviv University, we use the exceptional physiological features ascidians possess to find solutions to burning questions in marine environmental protection and evolution and development, along with providing recommendations for mitigation and control of nuisance species. Furthermore, as I am an expert taxonomist of this group, my team regularly monitors and actively promotes the identification of ascidian species of the region, establishing a solid database for international collaborations. I am perpetually amazed by the complexity, diversity, and beauty of the ascidian fauna along both the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts of Israel (Figure 1); the majority of species from these regions are yet to be identified and hold exciting discoveries in the fields of evolution, development, ecology, natural products, and more. To date, my research team has published over 70 papers thoroughly representing my three fields of research: (1) Marine Bioinvasion (Bereza & Shenkar, 2022; Gewing & Shenkar, 2017) (2) Ascidian ecology, phylogeny, and regeneration (Gordon et al., 2020; Gordon et al., 2021; Shenkar, 2013; Shenkar et al., 2016; Shenkar & Gordon, 2015); and (3) Ecotoxicology, in particular the use of ascidians as biological indicators of marine environments (Anderson & Shenkar, 2021; Navon et al., 2020; Tzafriri-Milo et al., 2019; Vered et al., 2019; Vered & Shenkar, 2022). I have been awarded several competitive grants and awards: Marie Curie Career Integration Grant, German-Israeli Foundation, US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Schulich Ocean Studies, Israel Science Foundation, and the Caroline von Humboldt prize for Excellent Female Scientists. I owe these achievements to the tremendous support I received throughout the years from my mentor, Prof. Yossi Loya, and key figures in the ascidian community: Gretchen and Charley Lambert, Rosana Moreira da Rocha, Xavier Turon, and Francoise Monniot (Figure 2). Among my favorite anecdotes is that I named a beautiful ascidian species from the Red Sea Rhopolaea idoneta after two of my children, Ido and Neta (Shenkar, 2013), and discovered by mistake with my former student, Tal Gordon, the ability of the solitary ascidian Polycarpa mytiligera, to eviscerate its digestive system and re-build a new one within 12 days (Shenkar & Gordon, 2015). Last but not least, I am among the few people that hold an original copy of the book “Ascidians of Sagami Bay collected by his majesty the Emperor of Japan”.