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Where are you from?

I grew up in a small town in Saudi Arabia called Al Qatif, located on the east coast of the country. Al Qatif is famous for its rich soils and abundant palm trees and springs. On the east side of Al Qatif lies the Arabian or Persian Gulf, which offers a really nice corniche walk alongside the gulf. Unfortunately, some parts of the gulf contain quite a lot of pollution, something that was a strong motivation for me to go into climate change-based research.

What did you like to do as a kid?

I was an avid football / soccer defense player, it was one of my main hobbies. My cousins, friends, and I actually established a local football team that went on to play against some official Saudi football clubs! For a second, I was going to pursue this path officially, but I also wanted to get a college degree, so I had to choose between the two. As there were limited opportunities for football players back then in Saudi Arabia, I eventually decided to go to college!

What are your hobbies now?

I really enjoy hiking around Boulder, especially in the Summer and Spring times. Although I have been living in Colorado for more than eight years now, I have not skied before and that is something I would like to try and learn in the next couple of years. I still play some soccer, and I am improving my volleyball skills at the moment, albeit rather slowly! I do enjoy being outside, but I would probably say that I enjoy being at home just as much, I like to catch up on new movies and TV shows and play board games with friends and family.

Speak about some of the strong influences in your life?

I feel like everyone who I have interacted with have had something to do with where I am today. My whole family has been an extremely strong influence. In particular, my parents have helped me develop some leadership skills, things like responsibility and accountability. They have also instilled the love of helping others and have raised me to become an empathetic person, a trait that is needed to understand other people’s perspectives. My siblings have had their unique influences too, some of them pushed me toward challenging myself in research, others guided me through invaluable life lessons. The benefit of being the youngest sibling is that you can learn from all of your siblings’ past experiences! In addition to my parents and siblings, my fiancée has been my strongest supporter in the past eight years; pouring me with positivity and confidence, as well as listening to my foolish ideas.

How did you choose this area of research?

During my sophomore year in undergrad, I was interested in pursuing research questions and attempting to answer them using science, but I wasn’t sure what topic to pursue. I initially joined Dr. Sandeep Sharma’s computational research group at the department of chemistry here at CU Boulder, which exposed me to the different aspects and environments in research. That experience helped me be sure about wanting to go into research and move toward something where I could see some of the changes that I would be working on. I decided to pursue some research that is relevant to renewable energy applications, which led me to move towards electrochemical research in the group of Dr. Adam Holewinski. There, I worked on electro-oxidation of carbon monoxide and methanol, which are chemical reactions used in direct methanol fuel cells. I was able to build my fundamental understanding of electrochemistry and its role within the transition to renewable energy. I liked the experience and decided to join the master’s program in Chemical Engineering also here at CU Boulder. I was co-advised by Dr. Charles Musgrave and Dr. Wilson Smith (both RASEI Fellows) on a project that had a combination of quantum mechanics and electrochemistry. I employed computational methods to understand the fundamentals and mechanistic details of electrocatalysts for the electro-reduction of carbon dioxide to CO. The aim being to take this waste greenhouse gas and eventually convert it to a useful and valuable product, such as ethylene, which is used in plastics production.

During my Master’s, my work was focused on the atomic scale, which was really difficult to visualize its direct effect in the energy transition. Although the work was very interesting and fundamental, I found that I have a stronger interest in the bigger scales. I decided to benefit from the unique expertise of both Dr. Wilson Smith and Dr. Bri-Mathias Hodge during my PhD, working on system-level assessments of carbon dioxide removal and electrolysis technologies. My vision is that this work would guide questions and research programs towards relevant problems to realizing a smooth transition from fossil-based energy and fuels to cleaner alternatives. 

Tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the Right Here, Right Now Summit.

With getting involved in the systems level research, I understood that in order for me to be effective in this space, I need to develop my leadership skills and look at a whole range of aspects including policymaking, economics, and the rights of indigenous communities. I started building my leadership interest, working through some courses, and mentoring high school and undergraduate students. My advisors knew about my interests and so when this opportunity was announced, they encouraged me to apply. I was both happy and surprised when I heard back from them as I was not expecting that to be involved in the Steering Committee of such a global event!

As part of the Committee, I worked to identify keynote speakers and panelists, providing well-thought opinions about the involvement of people in the summit. A key part of this effort was to organize the summit with respect to the diversity we were seeking to provide. Alongside this, we were looking at what events should support this summit, and how the whole program not only helps and informs the population of Boulder and Colorado, but the world as a whole.

One of the main pieces I was involved in was suggesting a side research event to be planned for alongside the summit, where graduate students can share their research about climate change and human rights. We had participants from across the different schools and departments, which was fantastic because they could present to attendees from across the globe.

The feedback and guidance we received from the United Nations, and the other stakeholders involved, was that we needed to bring together people from diverse global regions, races, ethnicities, and perspectives. It made us think bigger and I was very excited to learn how this process was deployed at that scale.

Personally, this experience helped shape my thinking about leadership and how complicated it can be. It was great to watch some of the best leaders from the various departments and organizations be involved in this summit, and I was excited to learn about how they navigate these complicated situations.

You have had the opportunity to work with a range of different teams, on a range of different problems. Tell us a little about how you see teamwork.

Teamwork not only produces well-thought ideas and opinions but also offers people with a sense of community that can build their trust and confidence in themselves and in their teammates. I see teamwork as a strong pillar that one can rely on to push themselves further. One of the benefits I have found working on a team, and this may sound strange, is watching others struggle with their work. It has made it easier for me to accept how I struggle with my own work, and actually acts to support me. Often, chatting with co-workers helps me focus on my work and be more productive. My teammates and I usually spend about 30 minutes every day to just chat, whether it is about life or research or anything really. Talking to peers can really increase one’s confidence about their work and can strengthen the personal connection between them, helping build a friendly environment for everyone to shine.

If all goes according to plan, where would you hope your research has an impact in the future?

The transition from fossil-based energy and raw materials is going to take some time. In about 10-20 years, I hope to see some of my work be implemented at a large scale, say a gigaton scale. I also hope to see the shift happening more directly toward converting carbon dioxide from the air or ocean into some valuable consumer products at scale. A lot of this is going to be so dependent on careful development and deployment of emerging technologies as well as on cultural and economical changes. That is why a holistic approach, in which considers a diverse set of experts and stakeholders, similar to the one promoted by RASEI, is needed for this transition to be implemented at the scale and speed needed.