Recognized as one of top 2% of the Most Influential Scientists in the World for 2023

I am appreciative of the Ministry and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan Region, Iraq for organizing a function to recognize my achievements and the achievements of several other Researchers in Kurdistan Region, Iraq for being listed as top 2% of the Most Influential Scientists in the World by Stanford University for 2023.??

During the function I presented the keynote lecture. It was entitled “Research for Enhancing Decision Making and Ensuring a Sustainable Future for the KRI”. I underlined the importance of research in guiding national decision-making in terms of nation building, sustainable development and wealth creation.

Then, I explained that I have worked in 6 universities on four continents. Despite this nomadic life, I managed to obtain a multi-disciplinary Geo-based background and working experience in Arid/Semi-Arid (Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan), Temporal (UK) and Tropical environments (Malaysia, the Caribbean region, Indonesia and Australia). I also published my research extensively and formed productive international networks with colleagues and intuitions in 20 countries including the UK, USA, Australia, China, India, Malysia, and Jourdan.

Next, I listed the drivers for the development of my research, including the importance of having a solid background in science, asking specific relevant questions, learning to develop and adapt solutions to manage problems in a particular scale in certain geographical area and in a given environment and being cautious when framing research outcomes.

I also articulated that it is our collective responsibility to be proactive and make maximum use of the talents we have in our universities through informing the decision makers in the Government and the Private Sector of the value of research in making effective decisions to manage the critical strategic challenges facing the KRI. As an example, I revealed some of the negative impacts of climate change on the KRI and the challenges of the necessary green transition, followed by some potential solutions.?

Finally, I suggested forming the Kurdistan National Research Council (KNRC) to motivate, manage, coordinate and follow-up on national research priority areas to help the government and the private sector and also nurture the next generation of KRI researchers.