Sameed completed his undergraduate education in Physics and Mathematics from Cornell University before joining the department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAUST. During his first semester at KAUST, he enrolled in MarSE 201 Introduction to Marine Science course taught by Profs Michael Berumen and Ulrich Stingl. Having genuinely enjoyed the course, he decided to delve further into the world of marine life and joined the Reef Ecology lab in January 2012. At present, he is interested in coral reef conservation and is working on understanding the effects of acute and chronic stresses on larval connectivity.