The Red Sea is a unique ecosystem in terms of temperature, geology, and biodiversity that remains largely unexplored. Managing its resources in the face of development, while protecting its environment, requires a much better understanding of the Red Sea habitats, its ecosystem, and its carrying capacity.

The population along the Saudi coast is rapidly increasing with steadily growing coastal cities. In addition, there are a number of major developmental projects in progress along the coast, e.g., NEOM, the King Salman Bridge to Egypt, the Red Sea Development Company, and King Abdullah Economic City. This level of development demands better environmental monitoring and knowledge of the possible geohazards along the coast, topics that are relevant for future seismic and other geohazard assessments.

In 2014, King Abdulaziz University organized the 1st ICMERS conference. KAUST hosted the second iteration in 2016, with participants from almost all parts of the Red Sea and specialists from around the world. The objective of this conference is to host the 3rd ICMERS and firmly establish KAUST as the central "hub" for Red Sea science consistent with KAUST's leadership in several disciplines (e.g., biology, geology, robotics, communications, sensors, etc.). The meeting will encompass an integration of these disciplines, in alignment with the need for transdisciplinary research to study the Red Sea system. This is a timely meeting given the rapid increase in Kingdom-wide attention for Red Sea knowledge, and we anticipate active participation (if not co-organization) from major KSA stakeholders. This will represent an opportunity for a more coherent understanding of local and regional activities in the Red Sea, including GigaProjects, KSA government entities, private activities, and more.

With the conference we intend to:

• Review the status of knowledge and present new results regarding various aspects of work in the Red Sea
• Identify the key outstanding challenges and questions regarding the Red Sea and discuss what the next steps should be
• Engage international experts in Red Sea discussions and KAUST collaborations as well as increase their interest in employment opportunities at KAUST
• Strengthen international collaborations for shared Red Sea expeditions with external equipment
• Increase the visibility of KAUST, e.g., via student and postdoc presentations of new results
• Build relationships with local, national, and regional stakeholders, particularly governmental entities, regarding policies impacting the Red Sea