KAUST Workshop on Marine Megafauna Movement
Funded by the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research, the KAUST Workshop on Marine
Megafauna Movement brings together world leaders on marine megafauna movement,
along with leaders in the study of human mobility, the development of new generation
sensors and the analysis and visualization of big data to furthering our understanding of
how marine megafauna (marine mammals, reptiles, birds and large fishes) use the
ocean environment at a global scale.
The workshop will unveil emergent properties of the collective behavior of marine
megafauna in the ocean through the use of new analytical and visualization tools,
rooted in the field of human mobility, and to guide the development of new sensors to
use marine megafauna to monitor ocean state for human applications.
Sunday Oct 18: Arrival
6:00 - 8:00 PM - FEP Music WORKSHOP "Adventures in Sound Play" (Paul Winter)
Bldg 20, Auditorium [registration required, please inform Yi Zhang if you wish to register]
5:15 - 7:30 PM FEP OPENING NIGHT EXTRAVAGANZA, Building 12, Univesity
Library (includes book signing ceremonies from Workshop Participants who authored
books available at the Library).
Note: the KAUST Fall Enrichment Program (FEP) is an event to provide experiences to
the broader KAUST community (academics, students, professional staff, families, etc.).
On the occasion of the FEP week will be dedicated to the movement of marine
megafauna and their interactions with humans.
Monday Oct 19: Open Workshop
Location: Auditorium 0215 (Level 0, downstairs Between Campus Buildings 2 & 3)
8:00 am Arrival, Breakfast and Coffee (speakers in Sessions 1 and 2 to upload their
presentations).
8:30 – 8:45 am Welcome and Workshop Opening. Prof. Jean Lou Chameau, President,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. KAUST (Introduced by Carlos M.
Duarte, meeting co-chair).
8:45 – 8:50 am Workshop Introduction and House-keeping Notes. Carlos M. Duarte,
KAUST.
Session 1. Chair Xiangliang Zhang, Workshop co-chair, KAUST.
8:50 – 9:05 am How big data and complex systems approaches can advance animal
movement ecology. Michele Thums, Australian Institute of Marine Science,
Australia.
9:05 – 9:20 am A complex systems approach to movement behavior of a large marine
predator: elephant seals as a case study. Victor M. Eguiluz, IFISC, CSIC-UiB
(Spain).
9:20 – 9:35 am Machinations in animal movement scales, where to begin?, Rory
Wilson, Swansea University, UK.
9:35 – 9:50 am Understanding animal movement across species: insights from flies, fish
and fossils, David Sims, National Oceanographic Center, Southampton University,
UK.
9:50 – 10:05 am Electronic Tags Provide Novel Insights into Foraging Behavior of
Northern Elephant Seals, Daniel Costa, University of California at Santa Barbara,
US.
10:05 – 10:20 am West Indian manatee tracking reveals occupancy patterns and
potential drivers of distribution, Allen Aven, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, US.
10:20 – 10:35 am Epidermal Electronic Systems for Marine Environment Study,
Muhammad M. Hussain, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
10:35 - 11:00 Coffee Break (speakers in Session 3 to upload their presentations).
11:00 - Session 2. Chair Xabier Irigoien, Director, RSRC, Organizing Committee,
KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
11:00 – 11:30 am An overview of marine megafauna tracking in the Red Sea Research
Center, Michael Berumen, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
11:30 – 11:45 am Describing a Novel Whale Shark Aggregation in the Red Sea, Jesse
E. M. Cochran, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
11:45 – 12:00 am Vertical movement patterns of juvenile whale sharks Rhincodon typus
at a feeding aggregation, Lu Sun, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
12:00 – 12:15 pm Whale shark genetics: A comparison between two populations with
different ecologies, Royale Hardenstine, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
12:15 – 12:30 Pause
12:30 - 1:30 pm FEP Brown Bag Lunch Seminar (Brown bags with sandwiches, salad,
beverages and dessert provided): "Human mobility" - Xiangliang Zhang and Victor
Eguiluz; Between Bldgs 4&5, Spine Auditorium
Session 3. Chair Michel Thums, Organizing Committee, AIMS, Australia.
1:30 – 2:00 pm Acoustic studies of the mesopelagic and beyond, Stein Kaartvedt, Univ.
Oslo, Norway.
2:00 – 2:15 pm Light and dissolved oxygen as drivers for the vertical distribution of
mesopelagic acoustic scattering layers in the global ocean, Dag Aksnes, Univ.
Begen, Norway.
2:15 – 3:00 pm Discussion Session: Key Questions on Marine Megafauna Mobiity:
Presentation and Discussion. Luciana C. Ferreira, The University of Western
Australia and AIMS, Australia
3:00 - 3:30 pm Coffee Break (speakers in Session 4 to upload their presentations).
Session 4. Chair Carlos M. Duarte, Workshop co-chair, KAUST.
3:30 – 3:45 pm KAUST’s CAASE Project: Coupled Animal and Artificial Sensing
for Sustainable Ecosystems (CAASE). The Red Sea as a CAASE study, Carlos M, Duarte,
KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
3:45 – 4:00 pm Video Object Segmentation Using Motion Cues, Ganesh
Sundaramoorthi, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
4:00 – 4:15 pm Integration of the animal observations into a regional observing system,
Burt Jones, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
4:15- 4:30 pm Comparative analysis of movement patterns of marine vertebrates, Ana
Sequeira, Indian Ocean Marine Research Center, Australia.
4:30 – 5:15 Panel discussion on “industry perspectives on marine megafauna”.
Moderator Carlos M. Duarte, KAUST, Panelists: Mark Meekan, Xabier Irigoien, Burt
Jones, Yasser Kattan - ARAMCO, Bernardo Nascimento - Fakieh Aquarium,
Jeddah).
Break
5:30 pm Group Photo at the Sea View side of the KAUST Library, Level 2
7:00 - 8:00 PM FEP Event: The magic of animal movement - A unique view into animal
minds and ways - Keynote Lecture by Rory Wilson; Bldg 20, Auditorium
8:30 - 10:00 pm Workshop Dinner. Al Mahrsa Restaurant, Yatch Club
October 20. Open Workshop
Location: Auditorium 0215 (Level 0, downstairs Between Campus Buildings 2 & 3)
8:00 am Arrival, Breakfast and Coffee (speakers in Session 5 to upload their
presentations).
Session 5. Chair. Markus Hadwiger, KAUST.
8:30 – 8:45 am The Red Sea Modeling and Forecasting System: Toward Integrating
Megafauna Data, Ibrahim Hoteit, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
8:45 – 9:00 am GPU-Based Visualization for Oceanography and Marine Applications,
Markus Hadwiger, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
9:00 – 9:15 am Exploratory Data Visualization and Sonification for Marine Research,
Paul Riker, Sonification Scientist, KAUST Visualization Core Lab, KAUST, Saudi
Arabia
9:30 – 9:45 am Object Tracking and Activity Understanding in Video, Bernard Ghanem,
KAUST, Saudi Arabia
9:45 – 10:00 am Learning Human Mobility Patterns from Location Traces, Xiangliang
Zhang, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
10:00 - 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:30 Roundtable Discussion and Workshop Conclusions.
Moderators Carlos M. Duarte and Xiangliang Zhang, Workshop co-chairs, KAUST,
Saudi Arabia
11:30 – 11:45 Closing Statement. Prof. Jean Frechet, Vicepresident for Research,
KAUST, Saudi Arabia
End of Open Workshop
12:00 - 4:00 pm Lunch & Snorkeling trip to Coral Reef (3-4 hrs)
(Bus departing at 11:50 from pick up area by Building 16 – participants to bring their
bathing suite and, when not renting, snorkleing gear, towel, etc. already in the morning;
bus will return participants to KAUST Inn at arrival from the trip)
4:00 - 5:00 pm Break
7:00 - 8:00 pm Concert: Earth Music, Paul Winter & Consort, Bldg 20,
Auditorium
8:00 - 9:00 pm Dinner on your own (dinner vouchers will be provided for nonKAUST participants)