We are excited to embark on this new collaborative research program with KAUST, said Dr. Laurence Madin, WHOI Director of Research. The research programs will increase our fundamental understanding of the ocean and its ecosystems in this important part of the world, and should prove valuable to Saudi environmental resource managers.
The proposed coral reef systems research project will focus on corals and reef fishes and provide critical information for the protection and sustainable use of coral reef ecosystems along the Saudi Arabia coast in the northern central Red Sea. The project will assess a range of threats to coral reef health and identify regional environmental stress factors that make the reefs susceptible to disease, bleaching and death.
The goal of the proposed WHOI-KAUST three-year fisheries and aquaculture project will be to develop an integrated bioeconomic model of the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia that describes the dynamic relationships among fish stocks and the fisheries that harvest them. By tracing out the biological and economic effects of alternative fisheries policies, such a model provides support for resource managers.
The proposed coastal hydrography and circulation project will establish a suite of observational and modeling activities that will provide the first comprehensive description of the physical oceanography in the Red Sea. This research also will support studies of coral reef ecology and p
'"/>
Contact: David Hart
media@kaust.edu.sa
44-020-739-57131
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)
13-Aug-2007