Winters in Kentucky are usually milder compared to more northern states but to one new resident who moved to the town of Frankfort to study at Kentucky State University in 2007, it was the coldest he had ever experienced. His name was Saudi master’s student Ahmed S. Alsaqufi, who was eager to learn all about aquaculture. But he almost got straight back on a plane to Riyadh!
“My first winter, I told my friend I’m going to write my will because I’m going to die”
“My first winter, I told my friend I’m going to write my will because I’m going to die,” Alsaqufi said. Homesickness and temperatures he found too cold to fall asleep in had driven him to the edge, to the point where he told his advisor, Boris Gomelsky, that he was going to withdraw, and he was deadly serious. Thankfully, Gomelsky, an expert on fish genetics, talked him out of it.
Alsaqufi explains that Gomelsky was like a father to him: “He helped me to buy a car. He helped me to rent an apartment. He showed me how to register for courses. When I defended my Ph.D. (at Auburn University), he was the first person I called.”
Recently named Director of Fish Resources Research at King Faisal University in the eastern city of Hofuf, Alsaqufi has kept in touch with Gomelsky through the years. He says he plans to write an Arabic translation of his mentor’s textbook, Fish Genetics: Theory and Practice.
Saudi Arabia is investing more in aquaculture as part of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to help the Kingdom wean itself off oil revenues. Alsaqufi says his father, who works for Saudi Aramco, encouraged his interest in aquaculture long before Vision 2030: “We need to think like my father did. One day the oil will stop. We need other resources. He understood. He encouraged me to go to another field.”
As a fish geneticist, Alsaqufi is eager to enhance fish farming in Saudi Arabia
As a fish geneticist, Alsaqufi is eager to enhance fish farming in Saudi Arabia, commenting, “People like the grouper — probably too much.” He wants to experiment with providing better tilapia to eastern provinces and better marine fish to central provinces.
Alsaqufi is also eager to foster relationships with foreign universities, including Kentucky State University and Auburn University, both of which he plans to visit this summer. Those relationships might involve sharing research funding or developing exchange programs. However, Alsaqufi is also eager to visit for a different reason. “I miss the weather. It gets really hot over here in June, July, and August!”