Rym ZAKHAMA SRAIEB

I am a marine ecologist and currently serve as Assistant Professor at the Department of Fundamental Sciences, High Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet, and as a researcher at the Laboratory of Diversity, Conservation and Monitoring of Biological Systems, Faculty of Science of Tunis. As a senior woman scientist, I have always been committed to fostering inclusivity, particularly by supporting junior women researchers in scientific diving.

My research focuses on the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems. Over the past two decades, I have contributed to numerous projects on seagrass ecosystems along the Tunisian and wider Mediterranean coasts. More recently, my work has concentrated on assessing carbon stocks and fluxes in seagrass meadows and coastal wetlands in Tunisia, highlighting their potential as nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation. Together with my team, I initiated and implemented the first seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) restoration projects in Tunisia and in North Africa.

Beyond academia, I am deeply engaged in science outreach. As an active member of the Youth for Sciences Foundation, I have worked to make science more accessible to society, notably by organizing five editions of the Youth Summer Camp for Biodiversity, targeting children aged 9 to 12.

As an executive member of the Tunisian Association of Taxonomy (ATUTAX), a member organization of IUCN, I actively promote biodiversity conservation and played a key role in establishing the Tunisian National IUCN Committee in close collaboration with other national NGOs.