Shir Bar - CV

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Education

Ph.D at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology, advised by Prof. Roi Holzman (Zoology) & Prof. Shai Avidan (Electrical Engineering), 2020-2026 (expected), GPA: 97
- Investigating the use of computer vision algorithms to identify rare, fitness-determining behaviors in ecological video data.
M.Sc in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, the department for Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, advised by Prof. Amatzia Genin, 2016 – 2018, (magna cum laude), GPA: 93.8
- Quantifying the Harvesting Cost of Grouping in a site-attached reef fish (Pseudoanthias squamipinnis). Led a two-year in-situ reef fish study. Developed MATLAB/R analysis pipelines.
B.Sc in Biology and Cognitive Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2013–2016, (magna cum laude), GPA: 92.28

Awards & Grants

2023 — Research fellowship by the Mediterranean Sea Research Center of Israel (MERCI)
2021 — IDSI - Access and Usage of Cloud Resources by Graduate Students
2021 — Microsoft AI for Earth Grant
2016–2018 — Faculty of Science Honors Scholarship

Professional Experience

2020–Present Volunteer Whale Shark Project Manager, Sharks in Israel NGO
- Lead whale shark data management and individual re-identification via WildMe’s Wildbook platform
- Contributing to new discoveries in the Red Sea region.
2020 Jul-Sep Research Assistant at Prof. Roi Holzman’s Lab, Zoology School, Tel Aviv University
- Part of a project to build computer vision system for analysis of fish larvae behavior from video.
- Developed a video pre-processing pipeline using OpenCV and Python.
- Additionally, I created Graphical User Interface to ease the pre-processing and labeling workflows.
2019 Marine Biologist, Love the Oceans NGO, Mozambique
- Led the Consevation Adventure Program
- Instructed a diverse group of international volunteers and ensured program delivery in high-pressure settings.
2015–2018 TA, Courses at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat
- Delivered field instruction and handled logistics on marine ecology in week-long intensive courses.
2014–2015 Research assistant at the Risk Management Ecology Lab of Prof. Dror Hawlena, at the department of Ecology, Evolution Behavior, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Assisted a PhD student with research, both field and lab work, requiring creative problem solving.

Skills

Programming: Python (PyTorch, scikit-learn, pandas, NumPy, TensorFlow), R (GLMs, Mixed Models, tidyverse)
Tools: Git, Bash, Azure cloud (VMs, Storage)
Languages: Hebrew (native), English (fluent), Spanish (conversational)

Publications

Sifting through the Haystack - Efficiently Finding Rare Animal Behaviors in Large-Scale Datasets

Bar, Shir; Hirschorn, Or; Holzman, Roi; Avidan, Shai. (2025). "Sifting through the Haystack - Efficiently Finding Rare Animal Behaviors in Large-Scale Datasets." Proceedings of the Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV). 6290-6299.

Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally

Womersley, Freya C; Rohner, Christoph A; Abrantes, Kátya; Afonso, Pedro; Arunrugstichai, Shin; Bach, Steffen S; Bar, Shir; Barash, Adi; Barnes, Peter; Barnett, Adam; et al. (2024). "Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally." Science of the Total Environment. 934:172776.

Assessing the determinants of larval fish strike rates using computer vision

Bar, Shir; Levy, Liraz; Avidan, Shai; Holzman, Roi. (2023). "Assessing the determinants of larval fish strike rates using computer vision." Ecological Informatics. 77:102195.

Shir Bar

Shir Bar - CV

Education

Awards & Grants

Professional Experience

Skills

Publications

Sifting through the Haystack - Efficiently Finding Rare Animal Behaviors in Large-Scale Datasets

Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally

Assessing the determinants of larval fish strike rates using computer vision

Talks

Sifting through the haystack – efficiently finding rare animal behaviors in large-scale datasets

Sifting through a haystack - efficiently finding rare behaviors in big datasets

The Hunger Games – A glimpse into larval fish prey capture behavior in-situ in aquaculture

Out fishing in the deep learning sea - What I learned (so far) about applying AI to biological research data

Can I automate this? Managing expectations from AI-based tools

Low feeding rates of larval fish persist across a range of environmental conditions

Analysis of larval fish feeding behavior under naturalistic conditions

Teaching

Statistical Methods in Marine Ecology

Computer Vision for Ecology Workshop

Introduction to R for Graduate Students