Bio
Dr. Khaled Mohammed-Geba received his MSc in 2007 and PhD in 2011 from the Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalucía and the Faculty of Marine Sciences of the Universidad de Cádiz in Spain. His research interests are the identification of biodiversity in marine environments, and the roles of invasive animal species in changing the environmental balance. Dr. Mohammed-Geba is currently a Fulbright Post-Doctor scholar in Dr. Eric J. Schott Lab at IMET, where he is identifying the role of the semi-invasive mussel Mytilopsis leucophaeata in removal and storage of anti-biotic resistant bacterial species from Baltimore waters. Furthermore, he is participating in transcriptomic and genomic analyses of viruses impacting the blue crab Callinectes sapidus in different regions of the United States. In Summer 2022, Dr. Mohammed-Geba mentored undergraduate interns at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, used molecular and culture methods to explore human pathogenic bacteria and sewage markers in Baltimore, and contributed to highl impact scientific journals in the marine field as editor, reviewer, and author, including Frontiers in Marine Science, Scientific Reports, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Aquatic Living Resources.
Research interests include:
1- Invasive marine species.
2- DNA barcoding and DNA metabarcoding.
3- eDNA.
4- Bacterial metagenomics and marine symbionts.
5- Bio-active ingredients from marine environments.
Invasive Animal Species
Global climate change and increased maritime transport subjected the modern world to unforeseen threats of spread of non-native (alien) animal species. Biological aliens gain their notoriety from their capabilities to induce massive changes in the native environmental systems owing to several extraordinary biological criteria. These criteria include high resistance to native parasitic fauna, elevated feeding and reproduction rates, voracious nature, sturdiness, tolerance to different environmental stresses, velocity in colonizing new environments, and others. Therefore, propagation of invasive aliens owing to their extraordinary biological criteria is posing imminent threats to native environments. Understanding these criteria and threats can aid the implementation of active control procedures for limiting their spread and mitigating their impacts. Marine and Freshwater mussels and crabs are amongst the most well-known invasive species. Cosmopolitan freshwater and marine aliens that could reshape the endemic biological diversities in different areas of the world include for examples the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha (freshwater), the variable mussel Brachidontes pharaonis (marine), the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana (marine), the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (freshwater), the marine blue crabs Portunus pelagicus and Callinectes sapidus, among many others.
Gallery
