KAUST ·
KAUST Ph.D. student Sofya Mudrova won the best poster award at the 4th International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology (ICIM4) in Moscow. The poster was in the biology domain. The award recognizes research presented at the conference. Why it matters: Showcases KAUST's strength in attracting and developing talent in interdisciplinary research areas.
KAUST ·
Dr. Gustav Paulay from the Florida Museum of Natural History spoke at KAUST in 2018 about the surprisingly low level of knowledge about marine biodiversity. He noted that only a fraction of the millions of marine species are currently known and described. Paulay highlighted the effectiveness of large-scale biodiversity surveys and the use of technology like mass sampling and DNA analysis to speed up species identification. Why it matters: Understanding and documenting marine biodiversity is crucial for conservation efforts and for leveraging the potential of marine resources in the Red Sea region and beyond.
KAUST ·
Professor Kimberly Smith from the University of Arkansas gave a lecture on ornithology to the KAUST community as part of the Enrichment in Fall Program. The lecture covered bird diversity, unique features such as feathers and bills, and various adaptations. Birds have developed unique features, including feathers, bills (or beaks), a flexible upper jaw and egg laying during reproduction. Why it matters: Such lectures can foster interest in biodiversity and conservation within the KAUST community, potentially leading to increased environmental awareness and research.
MBZUAI ·
Ekaterina Vylomova from the University of Melbourne gave a talk on using NLP models to advance research in linguistic morphology, typology, and social psychology. The talk covered using models to study morphology, phonetic changes in words over time, and diachronic changes in language semantics. Vylomova presented the UniMorph project, a cross-lingual annotation schema and database with morphological paradigms for over 150 languages. Why it matters: This research demonstrates the potential of NLP to contribute to a deeper understanding of language evolution and structure, with applications in linguistic research and the study of social and cultural changes.
KAUST ·
Dr. Roberto Arrigoni, a research scientist at KAUST's Red Sea Research Center, has been awarded the international "Benazzi Lentati" prize in zoology by L'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. The biennial prize is dedicated to young researchers under 35 in organismic evolutionary zoology. Arrigoni's research focuses on the systematics, phylogeny, and biogeography of scleractinian corals from the Indo-Pacific, particularly the Red Sea coral fauna. Why it matters: This award recognizes KAUST's contributions to marine biology and highlights the importance of Red Sea research on coral biodiversity.
KAUST ·
Artists from Switzerland collaborated with researchers at KAUST's Red Sea Research Center to photograph autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS). ARMS are artificial towers that capture small critters colonizing coral reefs, developed to measure marine biodiversity. KAUST has deployed and retrieved over 180 ARMS units since 2013 to study cryptobenthic biodiversity, which represents up to 70% of a reef's biodiversity. Why it matters: This collaboration highlights the innovative approaches being used to study marine ecosystems in the Red Sea and underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations in advancing scientific understanding.
KAUST ·
A KAUST-led research team has observed intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in corals, demonstrating that corals pass patterns of DNA to their offspring. The research, published in Nature Climate Change, shows that corals can adapt to environmental changes and pass those traits on through DNA methylation patterns. This is the first time this process has been observed in animals, previously only seen in plants. Why it matters: This finding could enable biologists to train corals in nurseries to produce offspring better equipped to survive changing marine environments, aiding coral reef restoration efforts.