KAUST has a track record of excellence in studying and protecting the marine environment. One of the most prominent research bodies working towards sustainable oceans is KAUST's Red Sea Research Center (RSRC). Offering a Marine Science Program with extensive Master and Doctoral level courses, the RSRC faculty offers a diverse curriculum in marine ecology, fisheries, genomics, microbiology, oceanography, and conservation.

Students have their marine research supported by both the RSRC facilities and the Coastal Marine Resources Core Labs facilities, which support all marine operations by providing research vessels, wet lab facilities, and several oceanographic instrumentations to support researchers in sea exploration.

As part of local and national outreach campaigns on the importance of the sea, the subject of sustainable fishing and overfishing is routinely addressed and contextualized for the Red Sea. In particular, participants are informed on how to protect large reef fish, and the iconic Whale Shark, found and studied in the Red Sea.

At local schools, KAUST also performs several outreach campaigns to expose children to ocean conservation. Adapted to different ages, scientists showcase their research in accessible language and contextualize their work for young audiences.

Specific activities such as the Social Responsibility’s Science Summer School, organized by KAUST's Strategic National Advancement (SNA) department, go further in the involvement of older students with research done at KAUST. High school students (selected through SNA's Young Learners' Development Program) have the opportunity to be mentored by graduate students and develop projects that are then presented in open conferences.

Researchers of the Red Sea Research Center also work on fisheries and aquaculture. They routinely share their research in international and community-open local conferences. Key national stakeholders are also invited to engage in research discussions, in order to quickly translate fundamental knowledge to applied industrial solutions.

KAUST also supports the Kingdom's vision of developing environmentally-conscious tourism. By securing a partnership with The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), responsible for one of the world's most ambitious sustainable tourism projects, the university has lent its extensive expertise on the Red Sea. KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science Carlos Duarte is also a member of the TRSDC Global Advisory Board and has been instrumental in advising towards the sustainable development of the project.

The KAUST-TRSDC partnership was further strengthened by the appointment of Dr. Rusty Brainard, the Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer of TRSDC, as Courtesy Professor of Marine Science at KAUST. The appointment aims to facilitate active collaboration between the company and the suite of world-class faculty and students of KAUST, demonstrating the university's efforts in supporting sustainable tourism development and overall eco-tourism.

KAUST was built with a strong vision of environmental stewardship. The research performed by KAUST scientists reflects the university's commitment to protecting and enhancing its surrounding environment. As stewards of marine life, KAUST scientists are globally recognized for their extensive work on key aquatic ecosystems and have contributed to studies that can support policy creation towards more sustainable oceans, and therefore, a more sustainable climate. KAUST faculty have also organized a conference specifically targeting the future of Red Sea Ecosystems, which involved several experts from academia, industry, and government, with the aim of setting targeted strategies that are sustainable, socioeconomically acceptable, and aligned with the public, academic, industry, and government interests. Finally, during 2019-2020, KAUST has performed extensive research and advocacy work to protect, regenerate and enhance Saudi Arabian marine ecosystems, namely coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests.

KAUST has also developed innovative methods to study how corals respond to stressors, from novel approaches to measure how they take up marine pollutants, to predicting bleaching events using remote sensing algorithms. Aiming to develop mitigation strategies and solutions for coral reef degradation, KAUST faculty are also co-chairing international scientific networks such as the Beneficial Microorganisms for Marine Organisms Network (BMMO). The network connects researchers from all over the world and explores the possibility of using microbial therapy to increase coral resistance to disease and reduce coral bleaching and mortality.

In order to raise global awareness on the importance of preserving corals worldwide, KAUST successfully introduced the topic of coral protection at the top of the G20 Agenda. The result of such effort was the establishment of a G20 Coral Reef Protection Initiative. The Global Coral Reef R&D Accelerator Platform was launched at the G20 Summit in 2020, aiming to accelerate international research and development in improving the survival, conservation, resilience, adaptation and restoration of coral reefs. KAUST was appointed the Platform Central Node (PCN) thanks to the cutting-edge infrastructure, expertise, sequencing capabilities, advanced sensor technology, and local coral reefs it can provide to researchers in the field.

Following a similar strategy of the BMMO network, KAUST also co-chairs the Mangrove Microbiome Initiative (MMI) with the aim of exploring mangrove-associated microorganisms as tools for mangrove preservation and enhancement.

Seagrass meadows are also valuable blue carbon ecosystems and are responsible for 20% of the total organic carbon buried in the ocean. By trapping particles suspended in the water column, seagrasses contribute to sediment stabilization, turbidity reduction, and make the water clearer. Protected from storms and waves and deprived of oxygen, the carbon degrades very slowly, being stored in place for long time scales. In the seagrass meadows of the Red Sea, KAUST researchers study how local seagrasses adapted to live in such harsh conditions of high salinity and high temperatures. This adaptation might help them endure future warming conditions, allowing them to keep their stored carbon in place and away from the atmosphere.

One impressive outcome of such collaboration was a pioneering study involving an international team of researchers who, led by KAUST Distinguished Professor Carlos Duarte, used destination-scale marine spatial planning simulations as a sustainable development planning tool to optimize the conservation efforts of the Red Sea project. The results of the study demonstrated that through careful design and planning, coastal development can enhance, rather than jeopardize, conservation.

Specifically for water discharge, the University has in place a Wastewater Management Procedure. The procedure regulates all discharges that are relevant to KAUST operations based on risk assessment, and include Marine Outfall Management, Direct Discharge, Washing/flushing/testing discharges, Dewatering, Marine Vehicle Sewage, Wastewater Reuse, Septic Tank and F.O.G. Moreover, all wastewater produced at KAUST is collected and treated, and the resulting Treated Sewage Effluents are then used as irrigation water, according to a TSE Water Use Protocol.

Coastline has also committed to discontinue the use of single-use plastics in its recreational boat trips and in its restaurants on KAUST grounds. Finally, under the same contract agreement, Coastline is also mandated to clean the shores of KAUST neighboring village, Thuwal. All areas at Thuwal's fisherman marina, marina harbor, marina corniche, and beach shoreline are routinely cleaned by workers and buddy water boats, in order to ensure the least amount of debris and pollution reach the sea within and around KAUST.

HSE also supervises and ensures the Wastewater Management Procedure is followed, especially by marine research infrastructures such as the Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab. Additionally, another mechanism to protect the health of the aquatic system is to make sure that any recreational boats discharge grey wastewater in compliance with The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

HSE also monitors the water quality of manmade water bodies in the community surrounding KAUST. One example is the controlling and monitoring of the golf lake discharge that goes into marine areas. The Golf Course Lake System is monitored quarterly from multiple depths and water samples are submitted to an accredited independent laboratory for chemical, physical, and physico-chemical analysis. Approval is then sought from KAUST HSE prior to discharge, being contingent on water quality complying with the marine discharge water guidelines (set in the Wastewater Management Procedure), and that the flow volume is recorded.

Currently, the Collection counts 12 published articles and more than 95,000 global views, and counting. It also was marked by a series of "firsts", being the first Collection in the journal about the ocean, the first Saudi contribution to the journal, the first article Collection from the Middle East, and the first Saudi public school participation.

Another ongoing program is the KAUST Sci Café, a public discussion forum that allows for a deep engagement between live and online public, and KAUST faculty and researchers. As part of the Sci-Café open discussions, the topic of aquatic stewardship, particularly for the Red Sea, is routinely addressed in any session discussing aquatic ecosystems.