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Tackle Engineering Challenges Enhancing Red Sea Ecology
from KAUST Impact - Spring 2020
by KAUST
ENHANCING RED SEA ECOLOGY FOR SAUDI ARABIA’S FLAGSHIP INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DESTINATION
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RUSTY BRAINARD Chief Environmental Officer at The Red Sea Development Company and Courtesy Professor of Marine Science
KAUST has been expanding its partnership and research engagement with Saudi Arabia’s flagship international tourism destination, The Red Sea Development Company.
In April 2020 KAUST appointed Dr. Rusty Brainard, Chief Environmental Officer at The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), as a courtesy professor of marine science. Dr Brainard is leading the implementation of a range of groundbreaking environmental sustainability initiatives at the Red Sea project site. These include reliance on 100% renewable energy, complete carbon neutrality on a destination-wide scale, zero brine discharge from desalination operations and enhancement of the site’s biodiversity by 30% over the next two decades. In his new role, Dr. Brainard will support the KAUST Red Sea Research Center in the university’s Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering division, while continuing his work at TRSDC.
This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between KAUST and TRSDC in September 2019, aimed at enhancing
KAUST deepens research efforts with The Red Sea Development Company
marine ecology and biodiversity along the Red Sea coast. With world-leading expertise in oceanography and marine conservation, KAUST is well positioned to support the project’s exceptionally high sustainability goals. The two partners recently conducted a Marine Spatial Planning exercise, the results of which informed the development of the project’s master plan. TRSDC and KAUST envision the eventual establishment of a joint TRSDC-KAUST Marine Station for field research.
THE RED SEA DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company
