In the world’s largest seagrass restoration project, scientists have observed an ecosystem from birth to full flowering. As part of a 20-plus-years project, researchers and volunteers spread more than 70 million eelgrass seeds over plots covering more than 200 hectares, just beyond the wide expanses of salt marsh off the southern end of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

In the 1940s global audiences watched spellbound upon seeing first-time film footage of marine life by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, famed French naval officer, underwater filmmaker, and inventor of scuba gear. Cousteau's ocean scenes brought the mysteries of the deep to the public eye, and in so doing, increased knowledge of marine species and habitats, and transformed the field of marine conservation.

KAUST Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) postdoctoral fellow Eva Aylagas Martinez spent a large part of her childhood by the seaside in Alicante, the capital of Spain's 200 kilometer-long Costa Blanca coastline. Her childhood there nurtured in her a curiosity for nature and the environment, which led her to pursue a degree in biology at the University of La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, in 2009.

Reduced oxygen availability in aquatic habitats is a growing threat to marine ecosystems worldwide. The lack of oxygen triggers many physiological actions in marine animals, generally endangering their homeostasis and rendering them highly susceptible to modifications in the environment, such as temperature, salinity and contaminants.

Giant clams take up a large fraction of marine microplastics, which could help explain the mystery of the plastic that is "missing" from the Red Sea. Researchers at the Red Sea Research Center have shown previously that the Red Sea has relatively low amounts of floating plastic debris in its surface waters, yet the reason for this has remained elusive.

The Saudi Aramco-KAUST center for Marine Environmental Observations (SAKMEO) is seeking a Ph.D. student to investigate the effects of contaminants on coral reef species and associated fauna.

TITLE: Physiological performance and thermal tolerance of major Red Sea macrophytes. ADVISOR: Professor Susana Agusti DATE: Sunday, November 26, 2017 TIME: 10:00 a.m. LOCATION: Auditorium 0215 (between buildings 2 & 3)

TITLE: An integrated approach to unravel taxonomic uncertainties in Porites ADVISOR: Michael Berumen DATE: Nov 23, Thursday TIME: 10 am LOCATION: Building 4, level 5, room 5209

Prof. Carlos M. Duarte, Red Sea Research Center Director, has been included in the "Highly Cited 2017" list, which identified the the world's most impactful scientific researchers. Prof. Duarte has been included in all editions of the list to-date.

Red Sea Research Faculty and Business Manager met for two days on a retreat to plan the future of the Center activities. The focus was to identify the potential, and supporting actions, to deliver broader societal benefits, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond, from the research conducted, as well as to enhance our contribution to translating this knowledge into economic development, job creation opportunities, and improved management of the Red Sea to reconcile development plans with healthy, vibrant marine ecosystems.

The Global Ocean Genome workshop (October 29 - November 1, 2017)

RSRC Masters student Alejandro Restrepo's Ms thesis defense will be on the 2nd of November. You are all invited!

RSRC Masters student Sara Wilson's Ms thesis defense will be on this Monday.

RSRC Masters student Melissa Pappas's thesis defense will be on Sunday, November 5. You are all invited!

RSRC Masters student Emily Troyer's thesis defense will be on the 5th of November. You are all invited!

RSRC Masters student Michael Wooster's Ms thesis defense will be on the 8th of November. You are all invited!

Our Ph.D. student Sofya Mudrova won the best poster award at the 4th International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology (ICIM4) in Moscow, Russia. The congress was held at the Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) from August 18 to 23. The event, which was organized by the MSU faculty of biology, brought together members of the global scientific community to discuss and share ideas in the field of invertebrate morphology and to highlight modern achievements in the field of functional morphology and paleontology.

​Ph.D. student Zahra Alsaffar won first prize for her poster presentation at the 52nd European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS) in Piran, Slovenia, held in late September.​

​​Al-Saffar is working towards a Ph.D. in marine science in the University's Red Sea Research Center (RSRC). Her research examines soft-sediment macrobenthic assemblages and explores patterns of variation in hyper-saline sub-tropical coastal lagoons. Soft-sediments, according to Al-Saffar, are one of the least studied habitats in the Red Sea environs.

We are delighted at welcoming the delegation of colleagues from KAU on 5th of October

KFUPM and KAUST join forces to deliver world-class research in marine science to advance our understanding on the ecosystems of the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea.