Sal E. Zaid

About Sal E. Zaid

Dr. Sal E.A. Zaid is a sustainable entrepreneur and scientist specialized in genetic structures and phylogeny. A conservation strategist for genetic resources. Master of Large Scale Tissue Culture Micropropagation Technology Transfer. He received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Hughes’s laboratory in 2016 and his M.S. molecular training from the Department of Plant Genetics, Blumwald’s Laboratory (salinity and drought tolerance), University of California, Davis. Since his doctorate he has accumulated multiple years of experience working with germplasm improvement and plant material security with an industry emphasis on date palm. He has been involved in various commercial projects, successfully providing technology transfers to governments and private companies globally. He is working on the automation in the fields of plant tissue culture. He has been recognized for a unique skill set in the field and in modern molecular techniques, developing resources for improvements in plant genetic structure quantification. He has 15 years of experience in field-based plant establishment as an agronomy engineer, 20 years in genomic technologies and 9 years teaching as an Assistant Prof. at Colorado State University.Since 2014 he founded Marrakech Date Palm Project, producing large scale clones ( annually ) through Tissue Culture Special Organogenesis Microporoagation of elite date palm cultivars. Core competencies• Agricultural large-scale multiplication through advanced Tissue Culture (TC)(Micropropagation - Organogenesis & variants), specialized in the Aracaceae family with an emphasis on Date Palm (DP)(P. dactylifera L.)(UAEU DPTCL, UAE; MDPP, Marrakech, Maroc)• Developed Identification repositories - Microsatellite SSR fingerprinting / Palmáprinting panels, standardizing genetic ID.(KCGEB, Khalifa Center for Genetic Engineering & BioTech, Al Ain, UAE)• Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Drought and Salinity Transformation (cDNA & Agrobac. T.) in bio-fuel Plants.(Prof. E.Blumwald Lab, UC Davis, CA, USA)• Plant Breeding Crop Improvement through TC tech.(Sugarcane sp.)(Prof. Ajay Jha Lab, CO, USDA, Fort Collins, USA)• Phylogenetic Relationships - Demonstrating a diverse expressive DP genome (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA, MDPP)• Genetic structures and diversity of imp. commercial cultivars of DP (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA)Energy | Frequency | Vibration

Experience

1. Postdoctoral Research Fellow

   United Arab Emirates University

   Nov 2025 — Present

   Develop PalmaPrinting, a unified SSR-based genetic fingerprinting system for the UAE and international date palm cultivars, using a high throughput gene chip platform able to allow for identification and confirmation on the same day, positioning UAEU as the global reference center for genotype identification, true to typeness verification, and genetic structure mapping for the date palm, the blessed tree. This work focuses on genetic structures, phylogenies, and advanced Special Organogenesis micropropagation, combined with the founding and establishment of MDPP, the largest date palm tissue-culture facility in Africa. This foundation and bases enables the creation of a standardized genetic identification platform with direct domestic and global impact.The date palm is a strategic crop for the UAE and the semi arid to arid regions. Yet, the global commercial sector continues to suffer from cultivar mixing, mislabeling, synonym-homonym, new unclassified and unidentified varieties, incorrect identification confusion, and the absence of a unified, authoritative genetic and certifications reference.Please contact me for more details and collaboration at z•••••@uaeu.ac.ae

Education

• International Bilingual School of Provence, IBS of Provence

  International Baccalaureate (IB), IB diploma Certificate

  2006 — 2008

• Colorado State University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Horticulture Applied Science, Genetic Structures & Phylogenetics

  2012 — 2016

• University of California, Davis

  Molecular Biology & Plant Transformation Laboratory Specialization (M. Agric.) Masters in, Drought & Salt Tolerance in Plant Transformation

  2013 — 2014

• Colorado State University

  Bachelor of Science, Horticulture Science, Business Administration Minor, Management & Finance Concentration

  2009 — 2012

Skills

• Design & Data Analysis
• Plant Biotechnology
• Advanced Plant Growth Regulators
• Greenhouse
• Molecular Cloning
• Science
• Laboratoire
• Laboratory Skills
• Pcr
• Plant Molecular Genetics
• Molecular Biology
• Advanced Integrated Pest Management
• Qpcr
• Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions
• Polymerase Chain Reaction (Pcr)
• Emerging Issues & Challenges for Global Agriculture
• Enseignement
• Public Speaking
• Research
• Advanced Systematics
• Technical Consultation
• University Teaching
• Recherche
• Somatic Embryogenesis
• Data Analysis
• Dna Mapping
• Plant Regeneration
• Dna Extraction
• Micropropagation
• Biologie Moléculaire
• Phylogenetics
• Reproductive Biology of Higher Plants
• Réaction En Chaîne Par Polymérase
• Plant Tissue Culture
• Plant Transformation
• Date Palm Extensive Expertise