Sebastian SCHMIDT ROACH

Sebastian Schmidt-Roach began his coral reef research in 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago, later innovating coral recruitment methods in Indonesia. He earned his PhD on coral reproductive ecology at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Tasmania, revising species boundaries in Pocillopora. Postdoctoral work in Germany shifted his focus to cnidarian ecophysiology under climate change.

In 2017, Sebastian started as a Research Scientist at KAUST, where he pioneered practical coral restoration applications. He invented the Maritechture™ suite of technologies and led the conceptualization of the world’s largest coral gardening project at NEOM’s Shushah Island.

Building on this, he co-founded Ocean Revive, Saudi Arabia’s first marine restoration startup, now serving as CEO. The company delivers scalable, off-the-shelf coral restoration solutions that advance Vision 2030’s blue economy and global reef recovery.