KAUST Center for Desert Agriculture

15/02/2024

🌱 Save the Date: Plant Science Family Night! 🌱
We're thrilled to announce the return of our highly anticipated event on March 6, 2024!
Join us for an evening of hands-on activities and exciting discoveries! Explore over 25 stations revealing the wonders of plant biology, genetics, sustainability, and more. From composting to food safety, there's something for everyone!
The list of participants includes , The KAUST School, Terraxy, GrowBioM, Students for Sustainability - KAUST, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Office of Sustainability, WDRC Water Desalination and Reuse Center, Facility Management/Utilities – Wastewater Treatment and Distribution Systems, Garden Society, Polymeron and C-tree!

📅 Date: March 6, 2024
🕕 Time: 6:00 p.m.
📍 Location: TKS Basketball Courtyard

Don't miss this chance to learn, explore, and have fun with your family! See you there!

12/02/2024

Celebrating the Remarkable Women of CDA! 🌷
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we proudly honour the incredible women who are the heart and soul of our center. Here's to their outstanding contributions! https://youtube.com/watch?v=GvT8UXcer7Q

15/12/2023

Congratulations to the Class of 2023 graduates! 🎓🎉
Clara S. Stanschewski, Yu Yang, Abdugaffor Ablazov, Fareena Rafique, Ahmed Ghouneimy, Natalia Arango López, Anam Fatima, Nora Alghamdi.
What an incredible achievement! is proud of your hard work, dedication, and accomplishments. As you embark on this new chapter of your lives, may you continue to strive for success, pursue your passions, and make a positive impact on the world. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors!

14/12/2023

Exciting opportunity: The Wulff Lab at the CDA is recruiting a Laboratory Assistant!
Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications to Prof. Brande Wulff at [email protected].

· Job title: Laboratory Assistant
· Working hours: 30 to 40 hours/week
· Contract duration: 12 months
· Funding source: Brande Wulff Lab

· Job description:
The successful candidate will work in the Group of Prof. Brande Wulff within the Centre for Desert Agriculture. The group works on cereal disease resistance from discovery and cloning of immune receptors in wild grasses, to understanding their mechanism, trough to using these genes to engineer resistance into domesticated bread wheat. For more details of our ongoing projects please see: www.wulfflab.org.

· Position requirements

Education: A BSc or MSc degree in a relevant discipline (biology, genetics, biochemistry, etc) - essential.

Work Experience:
Basic laboratory experience – essential
Molecular biology – desirable
Biochemistry – desirable
Plant husbandry – desirable
Plant tissue culture – desirable

Skills:
Competency in Microsoft Office – essential
Keen interest in working within a crop science research environment – essential

Interpersonal and Communication Skills:
Good communication skills both written and oral – essential
Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work as part of a team – essential

Additional Requirements:
Attention to detail – essential
Promotes equality and values diversity – essential
Willingness to embrace the values of KAUST – essential
Able to present a positive image of self and KAUST – essential

26/09/2023

is approaching! Join to hear the presentation by Woody Ang, Director of Ecosystems, NEOM Food Company,
about the NEOM food ecosystem in the Saudi context.
Visit the website for more details and register today!👇
https://lnkd.in/gdhcWnjX
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انضم الينا للاستماع الى محاضرة من د. وودي آنج مدير ادارة منظومات الغذاء من شركة نيوم عن نظام نيوم البيئي الغذائي في السياق السعودي
قم بزيارة الموقع ادناه لمزيد من التفاصيل والتسجيل
https://lnkd.in/gdhcWnjX

20/09/2023

Join our panel discussion at to hear the experts from NEOM, SALIC, المراعي - Almarai, General Food Security Authority (GFSA), Gro Intelligence & learn how we can work together to build a more sustainable & resilient future 🌍 by tackling the issues of water security💧, food imports 🌾, innovation💡and regulatory solutions📜.

Visit website for more details and register today!👇
https://saudifoodfutures.kaust.edu.sa/

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انضموا إلينا في الجلسة الحوارية للاستماع إلى الخبراء من
المراعي، نيوم، سالك، الهيئة العامة للأمن الغذائي، Gro Intelligence
لمعرفة كيف يمكننا العمل معًا لبناء مستقبل أكثر استدامة ومرونة من خلال معالجة قضايا الأمن المائي والواردات الغذائية والابتكار والحلول التنظيمية.

قم بزيارة الموقع أدناه لمزيد من التفاصيل والتسجيل على هذا الرابط
https://saudifoodfutures.kaust.edu.sa/

03/09/2023

Aparna Balakrishna, August winner of the CDA Lab Safety Award, is a research assistant in the BioActives Lab, led by Prof. Salim Al-Babili.
Aparna's extraordinary commitment to maintaining a safe working environment is deeply appreciated by all her colleagues at the CDA.
Thank you, Aparna!

30/08/2023

- a plant of the future! Abundant in nutrients, boasting delightful flavor, and flourishing in seawater environments. Vanessa Melino, from the CDA, is at the helm of a breeding program to nurture superior Salicornia variants. The objective? To yield a , nutritionally potent source of seed oil.
Read more: https://insight.kaust.edu.sa/2023/08/28/sourcing-a-sustainable-new-vegetable-oil/

A long-term breeding program is developing elite lines of Salicornia to produce a sustainable and nutritionally valuable seed oil crop.

29/08/2023

Fantastic achievement by Magdy Mahfouz's group who has developed a technique that enables site-specific gene manipulations across all forms of material. This new technique could enhance the delivery, specificity and targeting of gene-modifying tools for treatments.
Read more:

PNP editing emerges as a versatile and programmable tool for site-specific DNA manipulations.

03/08/2023

Ancient grain could help make bread wheat more resilient 🌾

A team of researchers at have sequenced for the first time the genome of einkorn, one of the world's oldest domesticated grains. The findings could help scientists identify genes 🧬 that can be transferred to bread wheat to develop varieties with enhanced disease resistance, higher yields, and improved hardiness.

Find out more 👉https://discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/21429/an-ancient-grain-may-be-best-for-resilience-since-sliced-bread/

Illustration 🖼 by Robyn Palescandolo Fine Art

KAUST Research

A first complete genome map of einkorn reveals evolutionary origins and potential for enhanced wheat breeding.