Michael Berumen

Seeking Uniqueness Within the Red Sea

Growing up in a small town in Arkansas, in the southern United States, Professor Michael Berumen spent a lot of time immersed in nature, investigating what lay under rocks or fallen trees. He feels he was “fortunate to live in a wooded area,” where his curiosity could never be satiated and it was “natural to always be exploring.” When the time came to pick a career path, he stuck to the nature-exploring trajectory he’d been on since childhood, choosing first to study zoology at the University of Arkansas. During his time there, he had an opportunity to spend a year in Australia as a student and to visit the Great Barrier Reef, which he recollects as a crucial turning point that led him to his current position as Director of the Red Sea Research Center at KAUST.

“When I discovered the diversity of life that lives in the ocean and on coral reefs,” Berumen recalls, “I fell in love immediately.” Having returned to Australia to complete his Ph.D. in marine biology at James Cook University, he went on to accept a postdoc position at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in Massachusetts. It was during his time there that he remembers hearing about a state-of-the-art university in the early stages of planning that was recruiting a team to “catalog the biodiversity of the Red Sea reefs.” Berumen leaped at the opportunity to study a habitat he hadn’t previously explored, an opportunity made possible through one of KAUST’s very first strategic partnerships (with WHOI) years before it was formally inaugurated. As a result, he is one of a select few who had the privilege of seeing King Abdullah’s vision become a reality as KAUST rose by the shores of the Red Sea. “It was super interesting to watch the development,” he remembers with a smile. Indeed, the effect of this experience on Berumen was so enormous that when the University began hiring faculty, he was already certain he wanted to stay.

The thrilling experience of seeing KAUST take shape around him was matched by the discoveries Berumen began to make in the Red Sea itself, which at the time had not been the subject of much scientific research. It is home, he explains, to “a very large number of species that do not occur anywhere else,” and each one “presents an opportunity to learn more about similar species elsewhere,” and of course, “the ocean as a whole.” Berumen’s research is about learning “what lessons from other parts of the world are valid to apply here, but also what makes it unique.” Even the most minute of distinctions between the Red Sea and other seas are important to understand so that bespoke methods of conservation can be implemented to protect this vital natural habitat and the diverse range of marine life that calls it home.

While Berumen speaks proudly and passionately about leading what he calls “an amazing team of researchers from all over the world” in the Red Sea Research Center, he also has the duties of other KAUST faculty, including teaching, supervising graduate students, running a lab, and all the associated administrative work. He enjoys the fact that his job is “never boring,” and that each week presents “a big mixture of challenges,” but he also finds great joy in the quieter moments. “Sometimes it feels like a rare treat when I get to sit down and read a draft of a paper that a student has written, or when I get to join my team on a dive” he shares, wistfully. Amid all the noise and the bustle, Berumen relies on those chances to engage in “the real, true science part of the job,” to keep him grounded. Reflecting on the bigger picture, he notes that “seeing positive changes in the national attitude towards marine conservation in Saudi Arabia makes it all worthwhile.”

At heart, Berumen is still the inquisitive child exploring nature for days on end, and no matter what his workday entails, he delights in encouraging his children to do the same. KAUST might not offer the same woodlands as rural Arkansas, but the Red Sea campus offers its own unique biodiversity, and Berumen loves it when “one of [his kids] says ‘let’s go look for spiders outside.’” Although he’s established himself primarily as a marine biologist, and his gratitude for a profession that allows him to satisfy his curiosity is abundant, he still has a profound respect for the natural world in its entirety. Berumen will always enjoy “poking around, exploring new places and looking for new critters.” That childhood passion, he concludes, “never went away.”