Research & Professional Interests

• Conservation of coral reefs
• Biodiversity of scleractinian corals in the Red Sea
• Biodiversity of marginal habitats in the Red Sea
• Distribution, abundance and population genetics of Drupella sp., a corallivorous gastropod, and its impact on coral reefs.
• Impact of tourism on coral reefs & community involvement in coral reef conservation
• Reef Check: team leading, scientific coordination and training of volunteers and trainers
• Desert plants in Egypt.

Education

• Doctorate of Natural Sciences from GEOMAR Research Center for Marine Geosciences and the University of Kiel, Germany, 1997
  Majors: Biological Oceanography, Minors: Zoology and Geology
  Thesis: "Modification of carbonate substrata by bioerosion and bioaccretion in coral reefs of the Red Sea"
  
  
• MSc from the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, Germany
  Majors: Biological Oceanography and Zoology, Minor: Physical Oceanography
  The exudation of phytoplankton in the Western Greenland Sea – The role of exudation in the microbial loop and the carbon cycle.

Teaching

• Essentials of Environmental Biology (Biol 102)
• Diversity of Life (Biol 105)
• Principles of Systematics (Biol 204)
• Environmental Biology for Engineers (Biol 302)
• Environmental Biology of the Red Sea (Biol 306)
• Marine Ecology (Biol 440)