Uncovering the Red Sea: Ask the Scientist

Dr. Francesca Benzoni is an Associate Professor of Marine Science at KAUST. Prof. Benzoni is a marine biologist and her research has focused on the evolution, diversity and ecology of corals in the Indo-Pacific region. Prof. Benzoni has contributed to major advances in the field of hard corals integrated systematics and biogeography through a multidisciplinary approach. Prof. Benzoni has led training activities in various countries to promote and sustain the knowledge transfer to local communities and stakeholders. At KAUST, her fundamental research addresses the diversity, characterization and evolution of benthic marine organisms and habitats. Her applied research questions concern the patterns of spatial and temporal changes reef diversity and distribution in a time of environmental change in the Red Sea.

Prof. Peixoto is a pioneering researcher in coral probiotics, a rapidly growing field that has revolutionized coral conservation. Her groundbreaking experiments showed that probiotics not only reduce coral bleaching but also prevent coral mortality, laying the foundation for their use in reef restoration. Prof. Peixoto bridges science and action through innovative environmental solutions. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the 2023 Rachel Carson Award in Applied Microbiology and the 2024 Frontiers Planet Prize as Saudi Arabia’s National Champion. She serves as Chair of the Marine Science Program at KAUST, President of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME), and Co-Chair of the Conservation Committee at the International Coral Reef Society (ICRS). Prof. Peixoto leads ICRS’s climate delegations to UN COP conferences and is involved in various scientific advisory boards. Her work, including the Coral Probiotics Village and scalable probiotic systems, has set a global benchmark for environmental conservation efforts. 

David Suggett is a Professor in practice at KAUST, and the Director for the KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative (KCRI). He has worked for >20 years to unlock how environmental and climate change shapes capacity for corals and coral reefs to thrive and survive. He was previously Professor in Marine Biology at University of Technology Sydney, where he co-founded and was the inaugural lead for Australia’s at scale community-led restoration network, the Coral Nurture Program. He serves on the Advisory Board to the Coral Restoration Consortium and previously chaired their field-based coral propagation working group.

Prof. Michael Berumen is the Principal Investigator of the Reef Ecology Lab, at KAUST. Michael received a Zoology degree from the University of Arkansas in 2001 and a PhD from James Cook University in 2007. Michael joined KAUST in July 2009 as a founding faculty member in the Red Sea Research Center. His research focuses on advancing general understanding of Red Sea coral reefs and connectivity questions ranging from larval dispersal to large distance migrations of adult fishes.