Merav Hayak joins the Department of International and Transcultural Studies as a visiting scholar and collaborates as post-doc researcher at the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

She earned her PhD from the School of Education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Her research focuses on how organizational and institutional factors shape the implementation of innovation and entrepreneurship in education. With support from the Azrieli Fellowship and the Israel Scholarship Education Foundation (ISEF), her dissertation explored this area in the context of Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) for middle school students. Her most recent article, published in Technology, Pedagogy, and Education, investigates the knowledge and planning required for teachers to integrate technology into classrooms effectively. She has been teaching at Achva Academic College since 2018, where she won the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2024.

During her postdoctoral visit, funded by ISEF and the Israel Council for Higher Education, Merav will co-lead a study on implementing climate change education in NYC public schools. Her work will contribute to ongoing initiatives to equip educators with the skills to teach sustainability and climate change.