Speaker

About the speaker: 

Holding a PhD from McGill University, Canada, in 2006, in food chemistry. Worked in several fields and receantly Leading a team focusing on seaweed research with over 15 years of experience in the field. Received several research grants on seaweeds worth more than 500,000 USD in the past 5 years. Published more than 30 articles, supervised 5 PhD students and 6 master students, and

cosupervised many others. Serviced in many executive positions, such as assistant dean for undergraduate studies (2010-2013), Head of department (2016-2019), and director of the Center of Excellence in Marine Biotechnology (2023-2025).

Company info:

Sultan Qaboos University is situated in Muscat province, the capital, and was established in 1986. It has 9 colleges, 14 research centers, 9 research chairs, and 14 research journals. The university is ranked 334th in the QS World University Rankings (2026).

Presentation:

The coastline of the Sultanate of Oman, particularly the southern coast in Dhofar Province along the Northern Arabian Sea, was shown to have high marine algal diversity. A total of 402 seaweed taxa have been reported from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman, comprising 238 taxa of Rhodophyta, 75 taxa of Phaeophyta, and 89 taxa of Chlorophyta. Several research projects were launched to explore this resource. Examples of theses projects are: Bioactive compounds from seaweeds to reduce heat stress in fish for sustainable aquaculture in Oman, Seaweeds and Microalgae as a Sustainable Alternative to Fishmeal in Shrimp Diets, Assessing the potential for Seaweed Cultivation in Marine Omani Waters through an integrated modeling approach, Optimization of Protein Extraction from Selected High Protein Containing Seaweed for Human Consumption and Screening of extracts from a group of brown seaweeds found in the seas of the Sultanate of Oman for their anti-obesity activity. This presentation will shed light on the outcomes of those projects and the potential of the Sultanate of Oman in the seaweed industry.