This award is to support a US-Egypt Workshop on Sustainable Coastal Development, to be held in Cairo, Egypt, in April 1999. The Principal Investigator is Professor Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, of the Department of Ocean Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who is also the Director of the Sea Grant College Program at MIT. A co-organizer is Mr. Clifford Goudey, Marine Advisory Leader, MIT Sea Grant College Program, and Project Director, Center for Fisheries Engineering Research, MIT. The Egyptian organizer is Dr. Ekram M. Amin, President of the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF) in Cairo, Egypt. The objectives of the five-day workshop are: (1) review and discuss the current knowledge regarding land-based and open-ocean aquaculture; (2) identify potentially productive areas for collaborative research; and (3) initiate research proposals aimed at sustainable development through the growth of aquaculture. The scientists plan to visit some of the major academic and government research sites and facilities in this field in Egypt.
Scope: This project will bring together 12 well known American scientists from different institutions who are experts in various aspects of aquaculture with their counterparts in Egypt to develop an agenda for joint research in areas of mutual interest. The US organizers have extensive background in the development of research activities on fisheries in the United States. The Egyptian organizer, Dr. Amin, is the head of the main research organization in this field in Egypt, and has over two decades of research experience as a marine biologist. The NIOF has the primary responsibility for developing Egypt's coastal resources. A workshop proceedings will be published covering the presentations and the recommended areas for joint US-Egypt research projects. This proposal meets the INT objective of supporting binational workshops that are likely to increase collaboration in areas of mutual interest. This workshop is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out cooperative activities.
