7th Int’l Date Palm Conference – Abu Dhabi, UAE Don’t miss it! March 14 – 16, 2022

Date Palm is an important food crop in arid lands, especially the Middle East. Why not get a seat at the 7th International Date Palm Conference, held this year in Abu Dhabi, Emirates? The place, Emirates Palace Hotel, will be sure to impress for 3 days this March. The website link for all information concerning …

AlUla is backdrop for new Hollywood movie ‘Kandahar’

Look out world, here comes a new movie set in a terrifically scenic and stunning location, Al Ula, Saudi Arabia! Kandahar is Hollywood's first go at filming in an increasingly welcoming region for tourism and international business. The movie's director is Ric Roman Waugh, and the release date has not yet been set. Read the …

Crop wild relatives can lend genes to our food crops, making them more food secure for the future

Looking online for some information about Middle East wild crop relatives, I ran across this article published in 20 Dec. 2017 in natureasia.com, (nature middle east section). It's entitled, Shaking up salt-friendly agriculture, written by Sedeer El-Showk. High salt-tolerant crops grown in the Middle East are a new focus for scientific study and genome sequencing …

New YouTube video featuring Saudi Arabia –greening desert landscapes in Saudi, Africa, Mongolia, and China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Kz_OcOgvE Just found a great youtube video on much of what my "Agroforestry in Arid Environments" review paper is about.  It is done really well and describes desertification, greening projects in Africa, China, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia, sand drift, agriculture, etc.  North America is not represented here, but this video gives a nice view on …

Alicia Keys to perform in sold out concert Feb. 11th in Al Ula 2022

Tantora festival is back this year at AlUla, Saudi Arabia! It is a time to celebrate arts, music, sports and culture in this most beautiful desert environment. Set to perform to an already sold out concert this coming Friday, is Alicia Keys! She will also be leading a panel on women's empowerment the day after. …

Salt tolerant plants for future food production: Middle East research with desert plants and microbes

Living in Saudi Arabia became a catalyst that began my interest, starting with dust storms, in learning about desert ecosystems and agriculture. The environment being so foreign to my past experiences living on planet earth, was something I wanted to understand better. Through reading many scientific articles relating to desert environments, heat extremes, desertification, sand …

Saudi Female Photographer Wins Award from International Federation of Photographic Art – 2021

Yomn Mohammed Al-Monla, who lives in Jeddah, has been recognized this past fall for the beauty that she captures in her images of Arabian horses. A Saudi native, she has an interest in highlighting her culture and showcasing the beauty of the horse within the equestrian world. She also has future plans to establish a …

Arid and Semi-Arid Areas of Southwest US – Agroforestry Practices to Mitigate Climate Change, Build Soil and Food Security

This past semester as a graduate student was challenging, but I learned so much from the professor and class, besides the readings and lectures. I wanted to bring some of what I had learned while living in Saudi Arabia to the class, as well as learn about what other areas of the world are doing …

AlUla-Elephant Rock, not to miss (4 of 4) –videos The Best Way to Finish Your Visit to AlUla

Scenery from roadside going towards Elephant Rock, AlUla This one site is still on my mind. So much rock and sand beauty in this one area! We chose the cooler night option at Elephant Rock, as I can't imagine a day visit would be as enjoyable. After nearly 2 hot days of sightseeing, we ended …