KAUST BESE

Eid Mubarak from the BESE Division! 🌙✨ On this blessed occasion, we extend our warmest wishes to our colleagues, students, partners, and friends in the Kingdom and around the world. May this Eid bring peace, joy, and prosperity to you and your loved ones. #EidMubarak #KAUST #SaudiArabia #Eid

KAUST welcomes biodiversity scientist Prof. Thomas Crowther to BESE. His research maps the links between biodiversity and human wellbeing — helping determine how much nature must be protected to secure food, water, climate stability and economic resilience worldwide. 🌍🌱 Learn more: bese.kaust.edu.sa/news/detail/20… #BiodiversityScience #SustainableFuture #EcosystemRestoration #KAUSTResearch

Congratulations to all KAUST researchers recognized at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions — a fantastic achievement for the university. A special congratulations to Peiying Hong @EnvMicroSafety, awardee from our division, who received a Silver Medal for Furat, an AI-powered system that detects harmful bacteria in water in real time and helps improve water safety. Proud to see this impactful work recognized on a global stage. 👏 #KAUST #Innovation #ResearchImpact #WaterResearch

🌱Plant diversity is a key driver of dryland resilience! New global research led by KAUST shows that ecosystems with higher plant species richness lose less vegetation under grazing pressure - a crucial insight for sustainable land management. 🐄🌍 🔗Read the story: discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/265… 🔗Read the paper: doi.org/10.1038/s41559… 🌐Visit the Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab website: maestrelab.kaust.edu.sa #PlantDiversity #Drylands #SustainableLandManagement #KAUST @ftmaestre

Today we celebrate Saudi Flag Day, honoring the powerful symbol that represents the Kingdom’s unity, strength, and values. The Saudi flag reflects a rich heritage and a vision for the future, reminding us of the pride and resilience that shape the nation. Happy Saudi Flag Day 🇸🇦 #SaudiFlagDay #SaudiArabia #Vision2030 #KSA

Congratulations to Carlos M. Duarte @carlosduartephd, Distinguished Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, on receiving a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Algarve @UAlg in Faro, Portugal. The honorary degree recognizes Duarte’s pioneering research on marine ecosystems and blue carbon, highlighting the vital role oceans play in addressing climate change. The award was presented during a ceremony at the university’s Gambelas Campus on March 2. 🌊🌍 Learn more: bese.kaust.edu.sa/news/detail/20… #KAUST #MarineScience #BlueCarbon #OceanScience #AcademicRecognition @UAlg @thewave_global @CORDAP_ @E1Series Recording of the ceremony: youtube.com/watch?v=nFDfrC…

🔬 Check out our latest featured research: Water-repelling surfaces reveal surprising charging effects New research featured in KAUST Discovery explores how hydrophobic surfaces can generate unexpected electrical charging when interacting with water—offering new insights for microfluidics and surface science. 📖 Read the feature: discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/265… 📄 Related paper: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac… #SurfaceScience 🧪 #HydrophobicMaterials 💧 #InterfacialCharge ⚡ #Microfluidics 🔬

Registration for KAUST Research Conference: EmbryoCon26, April 6–8, 2026 is now open. Abstract submission ends on March 15, 2026 Join leading scientists & clinicians in early development, feto‑maternal interaction, & reproductive medicine. 🔗 kaust.edu.sa/events/embryoc… 📩 embryocon@kaust.edu.sa #KAUST #EmbryoCon26 #StemCells

We are pleased to welcome Professor Renato Morais to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as Assistant Professor of Marine Science in the BESE Division. Professor Morais will investigate how ocean currents and plankton inputs from the open ocean shape the productivity and health of Red Sea coral reefs — closing a critical knowledge gap with major implications for marine conservation, fisheries, tourism, and environmental policy in Saudi Arabia and globally. With nearly two decades of global reef ecology experience, his work at KAUST will generate vital data to support effective reef protection and sustainable resource management across the Red Sea. We look forward to the impact his research group will make in advancing coral reef science and strengthening KAUST’s position as a global knowledge hub. Welcome to KAUST, Professor Morais. 🌊🌍 Learn more about Prof. Morais: bese.kaust.edu.sa/news/detail/20… #KAUST #RedSea #MarineScience #CoralReefs #MarineConservation #BlueEconomy #ScientificDiscovery

Check out our latest featured research: *Measuring spatial differences in reef-building corals to guide future management* Featured in KAUST Discovery: discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/264… Related paper: 🪸doi.org/10.1016/j.marp… #MarineScience
 #CoralReefConservation
 #ClimateResilience
 #EnvironmentalResearch @MaggieDJohnson @chiarapisapia_ @GCEcoLab

PhD student Juan David Escobar Prieto has been awarded the second-best oral presentation prize at the recent International Heteropterists’ Society (IHS) conference held in Bangkok. Juan, who is now finalizing his PhD in Prof. Daffonchio’s ESMLab under the supervision of Prof. Mishra as host PI, presented his research on the microbiome of Halobates melleus—one of the few insect species that live on the sea surface along the Red Sea coast. This work has recently been published as part of his PhD thesis and is available here: link.springer.com/article/10.118… “Receiving this award is a great honor and a meaningful milestone in my research journey at KAUST. It recognizes the importance of our work on host–microbe interactions in extreme Red Sea environments and reflects the strong mentorship and support I have found here.” — Juan Escobar-Prieto Congratulations, Juan!

PhD student Yunchuan Wang (Plant Science), supervised by Mark Tester, has been awarded the Dean’s Travel Award for research on extreme salinity tolerance in plants. Using genomics, Yunchuan is uncovering how halophytic plants manage high salt levels, with implications for crop resilience on salt-affected soils worldwide. The award supports his presentation at Plant Biology 2026. “Dean’s Travel Award means I can bring my research on Salicornia—a halophyte—to an international plant biology conference. It will give me the opportunity to present and promote our research, receive valuable feedback from experts in related fields, and learn about new techniques and recent advances.” Learn more about Yunchuan’s work: bese.kaust.edu.sa/news/detail/20… #DeansTravelAward #PlantScience

Dr. Luca Genchi, who completed his PhD at KAUST in 2023, has been awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA) by the European Commission. He began the fellowship in November 2025. "As a KAUST alumnus, receiving the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship is a proud milestone in my research journey. It reflects the foundation KAUST gave me — excellent mentorship, ambitious research, and the freedom to build and test new ideas — and it will help me advance my work on minimally invasive endoscopes for in vivo imaging." - Luca Genchi Congratulations Luca!

From Research to the Field: KAUST at Azka Farmer’s Market On February 5, Prof. Brande Wulff and Prof. Simon Krattinger joined a public panel at the Azka Farmer’s Market in Jeddah, engaging with farmers, industry leaders, and the wider community on agricultural innovation and food security. Held at Hayy Jameel as part of Art Jameel’s Hayy Markets initiative, the event highlighted the importance of connecting research with real-world farming to support sustainable food systems and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. 👉 Learn more bese.kaust.edu.sa/news/detail/20… #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #SaudiVision2030 #KAUST @BrandeWulff @simonkrattinger @azkafarms

Check out our latest featured research: *Bio-inspired network structures for next-generation AI* Featured in KAUST Discovery: discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/264… Related papers: 🧠💻Leveraging network motifs to improve artificial neural networks doi.org/10.1038/s41467… 🧠💻A 1,805-day exploration revealing how network structure shapes artificial neural networks go.nature.com/3WRr9Il #ArtificialIntelligence #NeuralNetworks #MachineLearning #BioInspiredAI @JesperTegner

Happy Saudi Founding Day 🇸🇦 A day to celebrate heritage, unity, and pride.
 Wishing everyone a meaningful and joyful day. #FoundingDay #SaudiArabia #Vision2030

We got the Cover! @TrendsinBiotech @MLPMasson @Barbara_C_F @ASU_AzCATI @MikeD_Fox @KAUST_BESE

Global experts from @UCSanDiego and @RedSeaGlobal addressed the urgency of uniting ecosystems, disciplines, and data to drive innovation during Nature’s Coral, Coasts, and One Health conference at KAUST. From AI-powered insights to applied conservation frameworks, collaboration is turning science into solutions. @NatureConf