Suembikya (Sue) Frumin is a plant ecologist, palaeobotanist and archaeobotanist. Sue received her PhD at the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar Ilan University, Israel under the supervision of Professor Ehud Weiss. Her dissertation addresses the impact of Philistine migration in the Iron Age (12th century BCE) on plant biodiversity in Israel. She serves as an archaeobotanist in the Tell es-Safi/Gath team since 2012. Her research focuses on the extraction and identification of plant remains, including fruits, seeds, and flower/inflorescences of crop species as well as wild species. Plant identification to the species level provides data which helps to unravel diet preferences and economy of the settlement from the Early Bronze to the late Iron Age. Ecological data helps to reconstruct the environment of the settlement, as well as to recognize possible regions of its trade, cultural and political relationships.
