Taimur Al Said is a 35-year-old from Oman and is currently working as a wildlife biologist in the Environment Authority in the Sultanate of Oman. He did his Master’s degree at Durham University and the project he did was to focus on the conservation of two ungulate species found in Oman, the Arabian Tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) and the Nubian Ibex (Capra nubiana). Both genetic and ecological methods and tools were used. The implementation of these methods in genetics gave him a better understanding of the phylogenetic uniqueness of these species showing the distance to other species in the same lineage. Additionally, signs of inbreeding were identified using runs of homozygosity, moreover, the historical demography was able to demonstrate the effective population size over time. Analysis of camera trap data will allow him to identify critical habitats using abundance estimates and range limits.

For the past 5 years, he has been working on a project that aims to understand the status, distribution and ecology of the Nubian Ibex (Capra nubiana) in Oman. Taimur’s ambitions are to protect and conserve the unique natural heritage that Oman has, furthermore he hopes to learn and face new challenges in what he enjoys doing the most. For the 6 years spent working at EA he has learnt and gained a good amount of knowledge and experience working in the field by doing surveys and learning new sampling methods and also new techniques that involves gathering and analysing the data. This Omani wildlife biologist does not only enjoy his work but also enjoys travelling and learning more about history and people’s cultures around the world. In his spare time, he likes watching all kind of sports, especially football and formula 1, occasionally plays football and Go-karts but mostly likes snorkelling, fishing and hiking.