Details

Raul Vilela is a marine scientist and quantitative ecologist in the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division at KAUST. He holds a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from the University of Alicante and an M.Sc. in Remote Sensing from the University of Dundee, and has more than 20 years of international experience across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

His research focuses on applied, problem-driven science using spatial statistics, Bayesian modelling, and ecological modelling to understand how environmental drivers and human pressures shape species distributions, population abundance, and ecosystem patterns. He has applied these approaches across fisheries ecology, bycatch and discard mitigation, vulnerable marine ecosystems, marine spatial planning, and environmental impact assessment, contributing to peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as policy-relevant decision-support tools.

Prior to joining BESE, Dr. Vilela held senior research and leadership roles at KAUST Beacon Development and Red Sea Global, where he led large-scale marine environmental monitoring programmes, supported the development of environmental standards, and provided ecological and scientific support to major coastal developments in the Red Sea, contributing to environmentally informed planning and decision-making. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Scientist at BioConsult SH (Germany), where he led applied research on the effects of offshore wind farms on seabirds and marine mammals, using spatial and statistical modelling to inform environmental assessment and mitigation.

He has also worked with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Wildlife Conservation Society, advising governments and international organizations on fisheries management, marine protected area design, and ecosystem-based conservation strategies.

At KAUST BESE, his work supports fisheries sustainability and food security through quantitative, data-driven approaches that bridge ecological research, monitoring, and management.