ENHG Lecture: Reef fish communities in the Arabian Gulf: Insights into the Future of Tropical oceans Under Climate Change by Dr. John A. Burt, New York University Abu Dhabi

**Kindly note that the lecture will take place on Zoom. A link will be sent to all those registered.**

About the Lecture:

The Arabian Gulf is one of the most thermally extreme marine environments on earth, representing a unique ‘natural laboratory’ in which to develop an understanding of how marine organisms might respond to future climate change in other regions. Coral reefs represent the most biodiverse coastal ecosystem in Arabia, and they are home to a diverse array of ecologically and economically important fish communities that serve numerous functionally important roles and support the economic activities of human populations. By examining the patterns and processes driving the dynamics of reef fish communities in this region, we can better understand the implications of future climate change elsewhere in the tropics. In this seminar, Burt will provide a background on the environmental setting of the Gulf, provide an overview of what he and his group have learned over their past decade of studying reef fish communities in the region, and what this might suggest for the future of tropical reefs across the globe as their temperatures reach Gulf-like conditions in the coming decades.

About the Speaker: 

Dr. John Burt is an Associate Professor of Biology and Head of the Environmental Studies Program at New York University Abu Dhabi. A marine biologist, Burt uses the Arabian Gulf as a ‘natural laboratory’ to study how organisms cope with and respond to extreme environmental conditions, a topic of increasing global interest as a result of climate change. His lab has ongoing research on corals and reef fishes, seagrasses and mangroves, exploring these questions from the levels of genomes and molecular biology to ecological communities. In addition, Burt continues to study the ecological and management implications of coastal developments in urban areas and seeks to develop more sustainable coastal management practices in the Gulf. He has been based in Abu Dhabi since 2009, and has published over 90 scholarly articles and book chapters on marine ecology and conservation in Arabia. He was awarded the 2017 Sheikh Mubarak Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan Award for Natural History of the United Arab Emirates and has been a long-time contributor to the Emirates Natural History Group, having given talks for Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah chapters.