Description

Exploring the deepest, coldest, largest and least known ecosystem on earth!

This afternoon seminar, led by KAUST’s Prof. Carlos Duarte, will include major lectures and interactive sessions on the exploration of the last frontier in our planet, the Deep Sea, the largest, but least explored ecosystem on Earth. We will share research and breakthroughs lead by KAUST efforts, KAUST collaborators and the leading deep-sea researchers in the world to bring these experiences to our campus, along with the engineering break thoughts that are making these advances possible. The schedule for the seminar is as follows:

2:00 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Welcome and Introduction. Carlos M. Duarte, Director, RSRC
Professor Carlos M. Duarte holds the Tarek Ahmed JuffaliChair in Marine Biology with the Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) at KAUST. Duarte received his Ph.D. from McGill University, Canada, in 1987. His research focuses on understanding the effects of global change, including climate change as well as other global-scale impacts of human activity, in marine ecosystems, which he has studied across the world. Duarte has conducted over 15 polar expeditions in Antarctica and the Arctic.

2:10 pm – 2:40 pm
‘Seeing in the Dark: The Remarkable Eyes and Vision of Deep-Sea Animals’ by Eric Warrant
Eric Warrant is a professor in functional zoology and a senior scientist in the Vision Group at the Department of Biology, Lund University. His research ​​focus involves studying vision and brain functions in nocturnal insects and deep-sea creatures.

2:40 pm – 3:10 pm
‘Exploring the Deep Sea Micro biome: A Metagenomic Approach’ by Silvia Acinas
Silvia Acinas is a research scientist at Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography at the ICM (Institut de Ciències del Mar), CSIC in Barcelona.

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm : Coffee break

3:45 pm – 4:15 pm
‘Oxygen dynamics in deep sea and hadal sediments: Exploration at the last frontier’ by Ronnie Glud
Dr. Glud is a professor at the Department of Biology and at the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE) in Denmark.

4:15 pm – 4:45 pm
‘Deep Red Sea Exploration in the Red Sea: Contributions from KAUST’ by Anders Rostad
Dr. Anders Rostad is a Research Scientist in the Red Sea Research Center at KAUST. His research focuses on fish and zooplankton ecology using echo sounders to study distribution and behavior of pelagic marine organisms. Click here to know more about him.

4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closing by Prof. Carlos Duarte

Interested in learning more about the research facilities here at KAUST?  Join us for an open house of the KAUST CMOR center from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  To learn more and to register, click here.