Dr. Michael Fox is an Assistant Research Professor in the KAUST Red Sea Research Center (RSRC). Prof. Fox is coral reef ecologist whose research focuses on identifying natural mechanisms that facilitate coral reef resilience in a changing ocean. 

Prof. Fox has worked extensively on remote coral reefs of the central Pacific and Indian Oceans to identify the roles of pelagic food subsidies in coral reef food webs and their influence on coral survival of and recovery from bleaching. His interdisciplinary research combines stable isotope biogeochemistry with oceanography and coral biology to link physiological processes at the level of individuals with ecological patterns at the community scale.

At KAUST, he will investigate how environmental gradients structure spatial and temporal patterns of energy flow and ecosystem functioning of coral reefs throughout the Red Sea. His research will combine extensive field research, ecological monitoring, and laboratory experiments to explore the trophic ecology of key reef taxa and elucidate how these unique reef systems will respond to ocean change.

Marine ecology Coral reef ecology Climate Change Oceanography Biogeochemistry Stable isotope ecology Ecosystems