Bio: Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed is the Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. A recognized leader in renewable energy technology and regional cooperation, he launched and led the Institute’s Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation and served as the Institute’s Academic Director.  One of the leaders of Israeli President Herzog’s Climate Forum, co-chairing the task force on Regional Cooperation and Security, he is the recipient of the 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science’s David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy.

In 2013 to become the Israeli Ministry of Science’s Deputy Chief Scientist, and later the Acting Chief Scientist, the highest ranking Palestinian in the Israeli government at that time.

Dr. Abu Hamed holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Ankara University (Turkey). He has completed two terms of postdoctoral research, one at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), and the second at the University of Minnesota. He also holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Hebrew University.