We are happy to share the news that our Center Director, Prof. Michael Berumen, has been selected as the 2022 Outstanding Alumni for the College of Science and Engineering from James Cook University. Each year, James Cook University recognizes its graduates who have made an outstanding contribution in their field of endeavor through an Outstanding Alumni Award program. The ceremony took place on the 9th of September in Townsville, Australia.

Prof. Berumen first visited JCU as a study abroad student in 1999 and returned to JCU to study for a PhD in marine biology (awarded 2007). Prof. Berumen is a world leader in the areas of reef fish and coral reef ecology. During a postdoctoral fellowship in Woods Hole, USA, Prof. Berumen began working in the Red Sea in 2008 in one of the earliest partnerships with KAUST. He joined KAUST in July 2009 as a founding faculty member in the Red Sea Research Center. As the Director of the RSRC since 2018, Mike has focused on harnessing the expertise of a broad range of KAUST researchers across numerous disciplines to provide scientific knowledge of how the Red Sea can sustainably support the Kingdom’s goals for growth and economic diversification.

Prof. Berumen is among the most-published authors on coral reef topics in the world. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and 11 book chapters, and he has co-written or edited three books. His research focuses on advancing general understanding of Red Sea coral reefs and more broadly making contributions to movement ecology, which is a critical aspect of developing conservation plans in the marine environment. He is particularly interested in connectivity questions ranging from larval dispersal to large distance migrations of adult fishes.

Prof. Berumen was awarded a Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship and named the 2009 Sir John and Laurine Proud Fellow from the Lizard Island Research Station and he is a member of several scientific and professional organizations, including the International Society for Reef Studies and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

All photos by Through The Looking Glass Studio - www.looking-glass.com.au