Riyad Manasrah, a recipient of a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program award from the nation of Jordan, recently joined Mote Marine Laboratory. Manasrah will research the physical and chemical dynamics of coastal ocean lagoons in the northern Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to evaluate their environmental status and examine threats to the ecosystems through his Fulbright award, which runs from this month through next May. Manasrah is a full professor of physical oceanography at the University of Jordan in Aqaba, Jordan, where, prior to his arrival at Mote, he was the president assistant at the university and the director of the Marine Science Station.