Dr. Samira Omar

Director General - Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research

Biography

Dr. Omar was appointed by the Kuwait Council of Ministers in 2015, as the new Director General of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). She has over forty years of research and development experience, and has led many projects to conserve biodiversity, restore ecosystems and promote sustainable agriculture in Kuwait. She was the program manager of the Kuwait Environmental Remediation Program from 2011 to 2014, and the Division Director for the Food Resources and Marine Sciences Division from 2000 to 2010. She also held the post of Department Manager of the Agroproduction Department. In addition to her work at KISR, Dr. Omar is also a Research Fellow at The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the Advancement of Sciences in the Developing Countries and a receiver of many honors and awards including the 2016 Medal Lectures honored by TWAS in November 2015. She is also a certified Rangeland Manager, issued by the Society of Range Management, California Section, in the United States, and has advised many local, regional and international organizations.

Dr. Omar is a member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). She has been an elected Vice President of the Executive Board for the Arab Region of OWSD since 2012 and Regional Councilor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the West Asia Region. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, and Treasurer of TWAS. She is a former member of the Executive Board of the Society for Ecological Restoration. Dr. Omar received her doctoral degree in Wild Land Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley.