The University of Haifa in Israel has announced a 50 million shekel ($16.08 million) gift from the Kadas Family Charitable Fund to launch a global climate change initiative.

The largest single gift in the university’s history will establish the International Faculty Initiative of Global Climate Change, which will create a virtual community of scholars spanning universities and research centers across the globe, with an initial emphasis on marine and coastal ecology research, specifically in the Mediterranean Basin.

Through their foundation, international financier and philanthropist Peter Kadas and his wife, Gyongyver, have supported educational institutions including Dartmouth College, University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics. Peter Kadas also is the founder and director of the UK-based Kadas Prize Foundation.

“The eastern Mediterranean Sea hosts more than 17,000 marine species and contributes an estimated 7 percent to the world’s marine biodiversity. Today, this rich ecosystem has come under threat from climate change, pollution, overfishing, and coastal infrastructure projects,” said Dan Tchernov, scientific director of the Mediterranean Sea Research Center of Israel at the university. “The generous gift from the Kadas Charitable Fund will be crucial in predicting the ongoing effects of environmental and climate change in the rapidly changing eastern Mediterranean basin, with the ultimate aim of using this research to predict the impact of climate change on other waterways and coastal regions. A consortium of global universities and research centers, employing virtual technology, will offer online educational modules, and employ cutting edge technology to create virtual research platforms untethered by geographical location. Each and every one of the nodes in this venture will think local, but act globally.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/tunart)