Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Practice of Marine Science
Active
Prof. Susana Carvalho is affiliated with the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE) and the Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) in KAUST, where she conducts fundamental and applied research in the field of Marine Science. Prof. Carvalho's expertise blends the fields of marine ecology, ecotoxicology, and coastal management. Using field and laboratory-based approaches, Susana is interested in untangling the role natural and anthropogenic stressors play in shaping marine biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning. While her research aims to identify the main threats to the marine environment, it has an applied aspect by incorporating stakeholders' views into management pathways. Prof. Carvalho has been actively mentoring students, involved in outreach activities, and has co-authored more than 110 publications.
Prof. Carvalho joined KAUST, specifically the Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) KAUST, more than 10 years ago as a senior research scientist. Susana has been leading the Environmental Impacts and Stewardship (EIS) research effort in Saudi Aramco / KAUST Center for Marine Environmental Observations (SAKMEO) since the inception of the program (November 2013). Over the last year, Prof. Carvalho had several interactions with national stakeholders, from Giga Projects (NEOM, Red Sea Global) to Industry (Saudi Aramco) and governmental agencies (National Center for Wildlife). Currently, Prof. Carvalho is appointed as the Manager of the Marine Science Sector of the KAUST@NEOM office located in NEOM. Under this role, Susana, and the KAUST@NEOM team, is actively engaged in fostering communication between KAUST faculty and NEOM departments to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and help develop projects that can improve decision-making in the field of marine science.
Aylagas E, Shchepanik H, Pearman JK, Parisi B, Curdia J, Berumen M, Carvalho S. A multi-method approach unveils the presence of marine non-indigenous species in natural and artificial habitats. Environmental DNA, in press.
Villalobos R, Aylagas A, Pearman JK, Curdia J, Coker D, Bell AC, Brown S, Rowe K, Lozano-Cortes D, Rabaoui LLJ, Marshell A, Qurban M, Jones B, Berumen ML, Carvalho S, 2024. Biodiversity patterns of the coral reef cryptobiota around the Arabian Peninsula. Scientific Reports, 14:9532.
Carreira C, Joyce PWS, Morán XAG, Carvalho S, Falkenberg L, Lønborg C, 2023. Too hot to handle? An urgent need to understand climate change impacts on the biogeochemistry of tropical coastal waters. Global Change Biology 30:e17074.
Carvalho S, Shchepanik H, Aylagas E, Berumen ML, Costa FO, Costello MJ, Duarte S, Ferrario J, Floerl O, Heinle M, Katsanevakis S, Marchini A, Olenin S, Pearman JK, Peixoto RS, Rabaoui LJ, Ruiz G, Srėbalienė G, Therriault TW, Vieira PE, Zaiko A, 2023. Hurdles and opportunities in implementing marine biosecurity systems in data-poor regions. BioScience, 73:494-512.
Saderne V, Dunne AF, Rich WA, Cadiz R, Carvalho S, Cúrdia J, Kattan A, 2023. Seasonality of seagrass meadow as net methane emitters. Nature Communications Earth & Environment, 4:99.
Hulver AM, Ellis JI, Steckbauer A, Aylagas E, Roth F, Kharbatia N, Thomson T, Carvalho S, Jones BH, Berumen ML, 2022. Interaction effects of crude oil and eutrophication exposure on settlement of coral reef benthos. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 185(Pt B):114352.
Villalobos R, Aylagas E, Pearman JK, Curdia J, Lozano-Cortés D, Coker DJ, Jones B, J. Berumen ML, Carvalho S, 2022. Inter-annual variability patterns of reef cryptobiota in the central Red Sea across a shelf gradient. Scientific Reports, 12:16944. (PhD student thesis chapter).
Rich WA, Carvalho S, Cadiz R, Gil G, Gonzalez K, Berumen ML, 2022. Size structure of the coral Stylophora pistillata across reef flat zones in the central Red Sea. Scientific Reports, 12:13979.
Peixoto RS, Voolstra CR, Sweet M, Duarte CM, Carvalho S, Vilela H, Lunshof JE, Gram L, Woodhams DC, Walter J, Roik A, Hentschel U, Thurber RV, Daisley B, Ushijima B, Daffonchio D, Costa R, Keller-Costa T, Bowman J, Rosado AS, Reid G, Mason CE, Walke JB, Thomas T, Berg G, 2022. Harnessing the microbiome to prevent global biodiversity loss. Nature Microbiology, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01173-1.
Thomson T, Fusi M, Bennett-Smith MF, Prinz N, Aylagas E, Carvalho S, Lovelock CE, Jones BH, Ellis JI, 2022. Contrasting effects of local environmental and biogeographic factors on the composition and structure of bacterial communities in arid monospecific mangrove soils. Microbiology Spectrum, 10:e0090321.
Aylagas E, Atalah J, Sánchez-Jerez P, Pearman J, Casado N, Asensi J, Toledo-Guedes K, Carvalho S, 2021. A step towards the validation of bacteria biotic indices using DNA metabarcoding for benthic monitoring. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21:1889-1903.
Roth F, Karcher DB, Carvalho S, Thomson T, Saalmann F, Rädecker N, Voolstra CR, Kürten B, Struck U, Jones BH, Wild C, 2021. High summer temperatures amplify functional differences between coral- and algal-dominated reef communities. Ecology, 102:e03226.
Pearman JK, Aylagas E, Voolstra C, Anlauf H, Villalobos R, Carvalho S, 2019. Disentangling the complex microbiological network within vulnerable coral reef ecosystems. Molecular Ecology 28: 3496-3507.