It was amazing how diverse such a small country could be. My time in Israel is something I will never forget. I was given the opportunity to learn about life in Israel, an ecosystem in a different climate, and the international research community. I learned so much through the funding of the IALC and the guidance of Dr. Zaady. I would encourage anyone with an interest in land preservation to become a Peace Fellow.
Soil crust is important to preventing wind erosion and conserving water.
A piece of soil crust 2cm by 2cm is cut and crushed into a test tube with Sml methanol and then cooled at 60 C for 2 minutes in a bottle sealed to prevent evaporation. The mixture is centrifuged for 10 minutes at 4000rpm. The liquid is transferred to a spectrophotometer tube and read at 665nm. Using a mathematical formula the weight of chlorophyll per square centimeter of soil surface is determined. The amount of soil crust from different areas can then be compared.