Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies desert-friendly. Around half the students are Israeli, with the other half from around the world. Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies is a faculty within the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and part of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It is located in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in the centre of the Negev desert in Israel and was established in 1999. The school offers Master's degrees (both MA and MSc) in Desert Studies, with subjects including physics, ecology, water management, biochemistry, architecture and social science, all with a desert slant. Over
Negev 13,000 km² (4,700 sq mi) or at least 55% of the country's land area. It forms an inverted triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula, and whose eastern border is the Arabah valley. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features. Among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim (box canyons), which are unique to the region: Makhtesh Ramon, HaMakhtesh HaGadol, and HaMakhtesh HaKatan. The Negev is a rocky desert. It is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis (dry riverbeds that bloom briefly after rain) and