Speaker 1: Sharifah Altalhi
Title: Journey into the Deep: Metagenomics Reveals Novel Insights into Microbial Diversity and Metabolism in the Red Sea Hydrothermal Vent Environments

Bio:
Sharifah Altalhi is a Ph.D. student in the Microbial Ecogenomics and Biotechnology Laboratory (MEGB Lab) led by Professor Alexander Soares Rosado. She is fascinated by the ecological and biotechnological potentials of microbial communities inhabiting extreme environments. Her passion for exploring microbial life in extreme ecosystems led her to participate in several significant national and international research expeditions to the deep waters of the Red Sea. Those expeditions resulted in discovering the first hydrothermal vents in the Red Sea. Sharifah studies the microbiome of the newly discovered hydrothermal vent environments in the deep Red Sea using metagenomics and culture-based approaches. She aims to understand microorganism communities' potential roles and interactions in extreme ecosystems and lay the foundation for further exploration of the unique biotechnology applications of extreme microorganisms.

Speaker 2: Isabel Diercks
Title: The formation of low-T hydrothermal mounds in the Red Sea -- Linking Microbiology and Geochemistry