A Career Dedicated to Protecting Marine Animals in the Red Sea - Royale Hardenstine, MS ’15, PhD ’20, by Melissa Pappas, MS ‘17

Marine animals in the Red Sea are some of the most understudied in the world, and KAUST alumna Dr Royale Hardenstine has dedicated her career path to changing that, starting with the biggest animal out there – the whale shark.

Not much is known about Red Sea whale sharks, and some of the earliest sighting data comes from the 1930’s in captains’ logbooks detailing collisions with one of these large creatures. Hardenstine’s research at KAUST throughout both her Masters and PhD has brought the understanding of these whale sharks’ movements a long way since then.

“In my PhD, I used population genetics to show the connectivity of Red Sea whale sharks to the larger Indo-Pacific population,” says Hardenstine. “I also used photo-identification to look at the crossover of genetics within the Red Sea from Al Lith to Egypt, Egypt to Israel, and Egypt to Jordan, and found some movements of individuals between the aggregation site in Al Lith and the neighboring aggregation in Djibouti.”

Now, Hardenstine widens the lens of her focus to include sea turtles, cetaceans and dugongs, species needing protection as coastal development increases in Saudi Arabia.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do after finishing my PhD,” says Hardenstine, “and it’s difficult to think about those big decisions while writing a dissertation and dealing with a global pandemic. It literally came down to the moment when I would have had to start thinking about my next move, when I received an email in my inbox that offered an opportunity to stay in Saudi.”

Just like many post-graduation opportunities, this one came through networking with her PhD advisors who had connections to The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC). The company just so happened to be looking to hire someone that could research the movement ecology of protected species in the Red Sea, and Hardenstine was a strong candidate.

“I was very excited that this opportunity presented itself as I was finishing up, because I really love the Red Sea,” says Hardenstine. “I joke about the fact that I now get cold diving in the Red Sea, and as one of the warmest bodies of water in any given season, that would pose a challenge for me to dive and work as a marine scientist anywhere else.”

Hardenstine now works as the Protected Species Science Manager at The Red Sea Development Company where she spends her days monitoring the reefs and 92 reefs and islands that make up the future Special Economic Zone. Her work directly impacts marine life in the Red Sea as she has the ability to decide how to protect these areas, but she first had to find out where these animals were.

“It’s crazy to think that when trying to understand the movement of dolphins and other cetaceans in the Red Sea, there is really not a lot of information recorded,” says Hardenstine. “For example, our team has really started to look into the presence and habitats of dugongs through aerial drone surveys, but they are really hard to find, and the most recent recorded sightings for the Saudi Arabian Red Sea in science literature come from 1987.”

As Hardenstine moves from whale sharks to other marine megafauna she realizes there are many animals that need deeper study to conserve.

“I left my PhD with many other project ideas in my head, for both whale sharks and other Red Sea animals,” says Hardenstine. “While I do get to work on a number of new and diverse projects, as a manager, I no longer have the luxury of diving deep into a specific niche topic, but a lot of these broader topics at TRSDC can inform KAUST PhD and masters projects, which is another benefit of this job.”

Ongoing Collaboration with KAUST

As the Red Sea Development Company grows, they have continued to hire more KAUST graduates and the relationship between the two institutions is integral in their current goals of conservation, protection and sustainable tourism.

“While I am no longer a student at KAUST, I don’t feel like a stranger,” says Hardenstine. “I get to see many of the masters and PhD students as well as other marine science graduates during field trips. For example, masters student Areen Nasif, who uses drone surveys for green sea turtle monitoring, works with us and will inform us if she catches any dugongs on camera. Alexa Foster, another masters student, works closely with our bird science manager, Dr. Licia Calabrese, at TRSDC, and recently I worked with PhD student, Lyndsey Tanabe, to tag a sea turtle and to rehabilitate a couple who had buoyancy issues. Clearly, there are many opportunities where KAUST and TRSDC interact.” 

The working relationship between The Red Sea Development Company and KAUST benefits the company and the graduate students.

“By having KAUST students work with us, we can show them what is actually feasible in conservation research now and in the future,” says Hardenstine. “It’s great for the company and my work as well, because students are very creative and have problem-solving skills that might aid in challenges that we face as we decide how to protect these reefs.”

As the mission of the company is to both develop Red Sea islands for sustainable tourism and improve the local biodiversity of coral, sea grasses and marine animals in the region, Hardenstine’s job to protect species is essential.

“Through some of the baseline work with Lindsay, it was found that an island considered for development was actually one of the largest hawksbill sea turtle nesting sites in the Northern Red Sea,” says Hardenstine. “This location is also where we released our three rehabilitated sea turtles earlier this year and protecting this island and sea turtles in general has now been a major focus for the company.”

Inspiring Sustainability and the Protection of Marine Life

Through Hardenstine’s path from graduate school to protected species manager, she has also become an educator at the company inspiring the local community and employees to care of and protect their marine life.

“Something I really like about this job is that I am not just the person who monitors and protects important habitats  by informing the company where precautions are needed, I also get to educate my colleagues about why we should protect these areas,” says Hardenstine. “And this is the part that truly makes the work I do sustainable. I spoke at a few seminars about protecting marine animals in the Red Sea for our company and that inspired the local community members to present their own understanding and passion for protecting these species. Once we educate the people as to why we need to protect a piece of land, reef or coast line, they start to care about it too and can spread that care to their community farther than I can.”

The education of the community is especially important in the goals of The Red Sea Development Company, however, not only those with degrees have knowledge worth sharing.

“I learn as much as I teach, if not more,” says Hardenstine. “The boat captains both at TRSDC and at KAUST are a wealth of information. They know so much about the area and are out in the ocean every day. They inform me of animal sightings and are really excited about it. I’ve seen them so excited on field trips that they will jump in the water to swim with the whale sharks and be a scientist themselves. I love encouraging that excitement because that is the most influential way to protect these animals.”

Hardenstine’s path is one truly shaped by her experience, connections and education at KAUST, and the prospects for current and incoming students are promising for those who want to work in meaningful conservation of marine life in the Red Sea through The Red Sea Development Company.