Dr. Shiri Zemah Shamir
עברית

Dr. Shiri Zemah Shamir

School of Sustainability Founded by Israel Corp. ICL

Research and Teaching Expertise

  • Sustainability and Environment
  • Economics
  • Environmental Economics and Natural Resources
  • Climate Change
  • Environment
  • environmental policy
  • sustainability
  • Sustainable Agriculture
  • Dr. Shiri Zemah-Shamir is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Sustainability-Economics and Data Analytics Program, Chair of the MERCI Teaching Committee, and Chair of the Israeli Forum for Environmental Economics (IEE). She holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the joint program of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Haifa.
    Her research focuses on the economic valuation of ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, through the development and application of innovative analytical frameworks that integrate economics, ecology, and social sciences to support evidence-based and sustainable decision-making. Her doctoral research addressed the economic valuation of biodiversity and competition over natural resources and applying economic models to conservation, resource management, and decision-making under uncertainty.
    Throughout her academic career, Dr. Zemah-Shamir has been engaged in the development of new models, the refinement of existing ones, and the expansion of analytical tools for assessing complex ecological systems. Her work employs methodologies from environmental and natural resource economics, cost–benefit analysis, economic valuation methods, multi-criteria decision analysis, and the development of indices and indicators for ecosystem services and natural capital assessment.
    In recent years, her research has focused on the development and application of integrated frameworks for assessing ecosystem services and Nature-based Solutions (NbS), with particular emphasis on marine, coastal, and terrestrial systems, Mediterranean environments, and human–wildlife conflict. Key research areas include climate change impacts, invasive species, fisheries management, offshore renewable energy infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, and natural capital quantification, with a strong emphasis on bridging scientific research, policy design, and practical implementation.
    Dr. Zemah-Shamir leads and participates in numerous competitive national and international research projects funded by Horizon Europe, PRIMA, COST Actions, and Israeli public research funds. Her work is conducted through collaborations with academic institutions, research centers, and policy bodies in Israel and abroad, and includes active engagement at the science–policy interface and in strengthening the environmental economics research community in Israel.
    She teaches courses in environmental economics, cost–benefit analysis, economic valuation of ecosystem services, microeconomics, and econometrics, and supervises undergraduate and graduate research projects.

  • Hofmann, L. C., Strauss, S., Shpigel, M., Guttman, L., Stengel, D. B., Rebours, C., ... & Meléndez-Martínez, A. J. (2025). The green seaweed Ulva: tomorrow’s “wheat of the sea” in foods, feeds, nutrition, and biomaterials. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 65(19), 3728-3763.


    Sánchez-Arcilla Conejo, A., Gracia García, V., Cáceres Rabionet, I., Sánchez Artús, X., Caiola, N., Espanya Forcadell, A., ... & Bladé i Castellet, E. (2025). Trade-offs and synergies in river-coastal restoration for the Ebro case (Spanish Mediterranean). Nature conservation, 59, 101-137.


    Steren, A., Parag, Y., Teschner, N. A., & Zemah-Shamir, S. (2025). Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for EV charging: Implications for incentives to promote off-peak charging and renewables integration. Applied Energy, 392, 125981.


    Zemah-Shamir, S. (2025). Protecting sharks by protecting places: a call to regulate aggregation zones. Journal for Nature Conservation, 127117.


    Urban, A., Huber, V., Henry, S., PLAZA MARTÍN, N. P. P., Tušlová, L., Dasgupta, S., ... & Gasparrini, A. (2025). The effectiveness of heat prevention plans in reducing heat-related mortality across Europe. Environmental Research Letters.


    Peled, Y., Zemah-Shamir, S., Israel, A., Shechter, M., Ofir, E., & Gal, G. (2020). Incorporating insurance value into ecosystem services assessments: Mitigation of ecosystem users’ welfare uncertainty through biological control. Ecosystem Services, 46, 101192.


    Raviv, O., Tchetchik, A., Lotan, A., Izhaki, I., & Shamir, S. Z. (2021). Direct and indirect valuation of air-quality regulation service as reflected in the preferences towards distinct types of landscape in a biosphere reserve. Ecological Economics, 180, 106835.


    Raviv, O., Zemah-Shamir, S., Izhaki, I., & Lotan, A. (2021). The effect of wildfire and land-cover changes on the economic value of ecosystem services in Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve, Israel. Ecosystem Services, 49, 101291.


    Zemah-Shamir, S., Zemah-Shamir, Z., Tchetchik, A., Haim, A., Tchernov, D., & Israel, Á. (2021). Cultivating marine macroalgae in CO2-enriched seawater: A bio-economic approach. Aquaculture, 544, 737042.


    Zemah-Shamir, Z., Zemah-Shamir, S., Scheinin, A., Tchernov, D., Lazebnik, T., & Gal, G. (2022). A Systematic Review of the Behavioural Changes and Physiological Adjustments of Elasmobranchs and Teleost’s to Ocean Acidification with a Focus on Sharks. Fishes, 7(2), 56.


    Becker N., Greenfeld A., Zemah shamir S.**, (2018). Cost Benefit Analysis of Full and Partly River Restoration: The Kishon River in Israel. International Journal of Water Resources Development.


    Lotan A., Kost R., Mandelik Y., Peled Y., Chakuki D., Zemah Shamir S., Ram Y. (2018). National scale mapping of ecosystem services in Israel – genetic resources, pollination and cultural services. One Ecosystem 3: e25494.


    Zemah Samir, Z., Zemah Shamir, S., Tchernov, D., Scheinin, A., & Becker, N. (2019). Shark aggregation and tourism: Opportunities and challenges of an emerging phenomenon. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. World Ecol., 1-9.‏


    Zemah Shamir, Z., Zemah Shamir, S.*, Becker, N., Scheinin, A., & Tchernov, D. (2019). Evidence of the impacts of emerging shark tourism in the Mediterranean. Ocean & Coastal Management, 178, 104847.


    Negev, M., Sagie, H., Orenstein, D. E., Zemah Shamir, S., Hassan, Y., Amasha, H., ... & Wittenberg, L. (2019). Using the ecosystem services framework for defining diverse human-nature relationships in a multi-ethnic biosphere reserve. Ecosystem Services, 39, 100989.


    Zemah Shamir S. (2020). The economic values of climate change - A review. Ecology and environment, (4)10. (Hebrew).


    Raviv O., Zemah Shamir S., Izhaki I., Sagie H., Negev M., Mazor-Tregerman M., Collins-Kreiner N., Mansfeld Y., & Lotan A. (2020). The socioeconomic value of multiple ecosystem types at a biosphere reserve as a baseline for one holistic conservation plan. Ecosystem Services 40 101043


    Peled Y., Zemah Shamir S., Shechter M., Rahav E. and Israel A (2018). " A new perspective on valuating marine climate regulation: The Israeli Mediterranean as a case study". Ecosystem services  29(A), 83-90.


    Dudai N., Tsion I., Zemah Shamir S., Nitzan N., Chaimovitsh D., Shachter A., and Haim A. (2017). Agronomic and economic evaluation of Vetiver Grass
    (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) as means for Phytoremediation of Diesel Polluted Soils in Israel. Journal of environmental management


    Korzen L., Peled Y., Zemah Shamir S., Shechter M., Gedanken A., Abelson A., and Israel A. (2015). “An economic analysis of bioethanol production from the marine macroalga Ulva (Chlorophyta)”, Technology 03:02n03, 114-118.


    Israel A., Gedanken A., Shechter M., Abelson A., Zemah Shamir S., Korzen L., Kropnik N., Kerry E. and Peled Y. “ different aspects of bioethanol production from the marine macroalga Ulva (Chlorophyta)”. Ecology and environment 2015(3), 211-216. (In Hebrew).


    Zemah Shamir S., Shitovitz B and Shechter M. (2014). Optimal Species Preservation Policy in a Symbiotic Relationship between Species. Handbook on the Economics of Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity. Edward Edgar, 302-317.