Poster #19 - Dalal Al Baijan

Associate Research Scientist, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Biography

Dr. Dalal Bader Al Baijan is an associate research scientist at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. She has a BSc with a major in zoology and minor in microbiology and graduated from Kuwait University in 1997. She obtained her master’s degree from Kuwait University with distinction, in the field of environmental science and her PhD from the University of Newcastle in 2015 studying the potential of the succulent genus Agave as a source of bioenergy from arid marginal land. Agave is an extremely drought tolerant and potentially productive plant due to the fact that it uses the CAM pathway for photosynthetic carbon assimilation. The study involved mastering a range of sophisticated plant biochemical and molecular techniques (including Titratable acidity, CH2O analysis by HPLC and HPIC, Western Blotting, Tonoplast extraction, Enzyme assays and the monitoring of photosynthetic gas exchange). One of the highlights of her thesis was a novel in-depth study of the proteome of the vacuolar membrane in Agave with the goal of identifying sugar transporters likely to be fundamental determinants of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism. Dr. Al Baijan has 20 years of experience in her field, many of which have been at KISR, where she started her scientific career as a research associate before becoming an associate research scientist in 2015. During her tenure, she has worked closely on several projects involving salt tolerance involving mangrove plants. She has also worked on several plant tissue projects involving mangroves, native desert plants, truffles, and date palm trees. Dr. Al Baijan has conducted several in-house training courses on molecular biology techniques, and participated in several KISR summer training program for university students.