In the wilderness (במדבר)

I had a research meeting today down at the Sde Boqer (שדה בוקר) campus of Ben Gurion University.  It's about 30 miles due south of Beer Sheva.  Once the bus was really outside of Beer Sheva, there are rolling hills and patches of scrubby bushes, and that's all.  I was glad to be on a bus, and not stranded on the road.  The bus stopped at two kibutzim, which are tidy, green spaces in the midst of nothing.  And then dropped me at Sde Boqer Midreshet.  Ok.  I was expecting a university gate, or at least a university sign.  Two grad students in the shade helped me get my bearings, and I did find my meeting place.  I met with Pedro Berliner and Naftali Lazarovitch, who are agriculture professors in the dryland institute.  Naftali showed me his current experiment in the greenhouse.  It's a carousel arrangement, where he's really got a tight control on his water balance.  Very clever.  I also met with Ofer Dahan, who has collected some amazing data on water movements in the vadose zone.  His data have really challenged conventional thinking about the vadose zone, and has had difficulty publishing, because the reviewers couldn't believe it.  Oh, and Naftali just published an article on how intensive organic farming causes more pollution than traditional farming, because of the overuse of manure.  I told him not to come to the States with that information!

I never did see any security.  The main campus in Beer Sheva has tight security, but like where I live in Creighton, distance has its own security.  In fact, while I was sure to bring my university ID card, there was no one to check it.  Since it's the week before Pesach, it was very quiet.  And this is the same bus stop for Ben Gurion's gravesite.  I just caught a glimpse of the canyon.  Wow.  It will require a return trip with a proper camera.  And I need another research visit anyway.  Of course, it's a very new campus.  Very pretty.  The university buildings are all architect buildings.  I was able to score a ride back to Beer Sheva with a woman professor I've met a few times (she's a physicist with the solar energy group).  I liked this walkway.

I promise to go back with the good camera, and do the tourist thing.  Today was work.