The Mubadala ACCESS Center awarded $1mln grant for research from Dalio Philanthropies

The Mubadala ACCESS Center awarded $1mln grant for research from Dalio Philanthropies

Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences (ACCESS) at NYU Abu Dhabi today announced that it received a grant from Dalio Philanthropies to support cutting-edge climate research, including ways to increase coral resilience in a warming ocean.

The $1 million USD grant will include two years of support for a project led by NYUAD associate professor of biology Dr. John Burt that will explore the selection and crossbreeding of heat-resistant corals in the Arabian Gulf with heat-sensitive corals found elsewhere to produce climate-resistant corals that can better withstand climate change.

As waters warm and ocean chemistry changes due to increased CO2 levels, coral around the world is experiencing more frequent bleaching and loss. Corals in the Arabian Gulf, however, have proven able to survive at significantly higher temperatures. In initial experiments, Dr. Burt’s team found that crossbreeding UAE corals with Indian Ocean corals can lead to 84% higher heat tolerance in hybrid offspring.

In addition to supporting this project, the grant provides an anchor for future collaborations between global ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX, an operating program of Dalio Philanthropies, and NYUAD, particularly around ocean education and scientific research. The partnership kicked off this month with an OceanX-led research