Education
2021–present
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Michigan
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Advisor: Matt Friedman
Thesis: “Cenozoic biogeography and biodiversity of tropical marine fishes of the Indo–West Pacific”
Expected graduation: 2027
2016–2020
B.S. in Biology, The George Washington University
Concentration: Ecology, Evolution & the Environment
Minor: Bioinformatics
Publications
2026El-Sayed S, Friedman M, Salem B, Gohar A, Al-Ashqar S, Amin M, El-Saka H,
Saad H, Speijer R, Sallam H. "Rise of modern marine fishes captured in an early Paleocene Lagerstätte".
Science Advances 12, eaec8978. DOI:
10.1126/sciadv.aec8978.
2025Troyer EM, Rivero-Vega R, Cui X, Zhu M, Qiao T,
Saad H, Figueroa RT, Andrews JV, Clement A, Lebedev O, Higgins R, Igielman B, Pierce S, Giles S, Friedman M. "Macroevolutionary role reversals in the earliest radiation of bony fishes".
Current Biology 35, 4631–4641.e3. DOI:
10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.008.
2023Friedman M, Andrews JV,
Saad H, El-Sayed S. "The Cretaceous–Paleogene transition in spiny-rayed fishes: surveying “Patterson’s Gap” in the acanthomorph skeletal record".
Geologica Belgica 26(1–2), 1–23. DOI:
10.20341/gb.2023.002.
2021Hughes LC, Ortí G,
Saad H, Li C, White WT, Baldwin CC, Crandall KA, Arcila D, Betancur R. "Exon probe sets and bioinformatics pipelines for all levels of fish phylogenomics".
Molecular Ecology Resources 21, 816–833. DOI:
10.1111/1755-0998.13287.
Manuscripts in Preparation
Saad H, Friedman M. "First record of the batfish †Eoplatax (Acanthomorpha: ?Ephippidae) from the Eocene (Lutetian) of Pakistan, with comments on the ephippid fossil record and the distribution of Paleogene marine fishes". In review.
Saad H, El-Sayed S, Friedman M. "The paleontological perspective of tropical marine fishes throughout the early Cenozoic of the Indo–West Pacific". In preparation.
Fellowships & Grants
Total funding received: $338,600
2023 Rackham Pre-Candidate Research Grant, University of Michigan — $1,500
2023 Cashner Travel Grant, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists — $1,000
2023 Heidemarie Johnson Grant, Paleontological Society — $3,000
2023 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Biodiversity & Systematics — $125,000
2023 Museum Studies Fellow Program, University of Michigan — $10,000
2022, 2023, 2025 Rackham Travel Grant, University of Michigan — $4,000
2022, 2024 Turner Research Grant, University of Michigan — $4,100
2021 Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan — approximately $60,000
2019 Harlan Undergraduate Research Fellow, The George Washington University — $5,000
2018 Summer Training Academy for Research Success, University of California San Diego; advisor: Kaustuv Roy — $5,000
2016–2020 Presidential Academic Scholarship, The George Washington University — $120,000
Awards
2026 Best Graduate Student Poster, Michigan Geophysical Union
2026 Best Student Poster, International Biogeography Society, Aarhus
2019 Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year, The George Washington University
Professional Development
2023 Museum Studies Fellowship, University of Michigan
2022 Science Communication Fellowship, University of Michigan
2017 NASA-BMSIS Young Scientist Program in Space Biosciences, San José State University; advisor: Andro Rios
Conference Presentations (selected)
2025
Saad H, Friedman M. The paleontological perspective of marine tropical fishes throughout the Paleogene and Neogene of the Indo–West Pacific. Taipei, Taiwan.
2023
Saad H, Friedman M. The Cenozoic collapse of the West Tethyan biodiversity hotspot: a test using the fish otolith fossil record. Indo-Pacific Fish Conference. Auckland, New Zealand.
2023
Saad H, Friedman M. A putative spadefish (Acanthomorpha: Ephippidae) from the Indo-Pacific region and its implications for marine fish biogeography. Great Lakes Student Paleoconference. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
2023
Saad H, Friedman M. The Cenozoic collapse of the West Tethyan biodiversity hotspot: a test using the fish otolith fossil record. International Otolith Symposium. Viña del Mar, Chile.
2018
Saad H, Neu A, Roy K. Determining marine molluscan larval diversity at Scripps Pier using DNA barcoding. Summer Research Conference, University of California San Diego. San Diego, California.
Conference Posters (selected)
2025
Killbrew R, Saad H, Friedman M. Re-evaluation of a fossil fish from the Miocene of Indonesia. Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Spring Symposium. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
2024
Saad H, Friedman M. Description of a spadefish (Acanthomorpha: Ephippidae) from Pakistan and its implications for marine fish biogeography in the Paleogene. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2024
Saad H, Friedman M. Inventory of Inner Ear Bones: Database of otoliths throughout the Cenozoic. North American Paleontological Convention. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
2023
Flemming A, Bart H, Blackwell A, Buckner JC, Fuller N, Melbourne L, Mims B, Saad H, Ware J. Creating and building community in natural history museums to enhance the reach and care of natural history collections: BlackInNHM. Society for the Preservation of Natural History collections. San Francisco, California.
2022
Saad H, Friedman M. A putative spadefish (Acanthomorpha: Ephippidae) from the Indo-Pacific region and its implications for marine fish biogeography. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Toronto, Canada.
2019
Saad H, Peterson R, Hughes L. Data Fishing: Curating a Library of Actinopterygii Transcriptomic Data. Harlan Presentation. Washington, DC.
Professional Experience
2026 Museum Assistant, UMMP 100th Temporary Exhibit, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
2024–2025 Assisted in the creation of the Black in Natural History traveling exhibit, University of Florida (2024) and American Museum of Natural History (2025)
2017 Editor and writer for “Shifting the Focus: Centering Indigenous and DEI Practices in UMMAA’s Collection Management Policy,” primarily focused on the “Global Collection”; capstone project for the Museum Studies Program
2024 Museum Assistant, Sea Change: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries?, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
2022 Research Assistant, Matt Friedman Lab, University of Michigan
2019–2020 Lab Manager, BISC 1111 and BISC 1112: Introduction to Biology, The George Washington University
2018–2021 Research Assistant, Guillermo Ortí’s FishLife Lab, The George Washington University
Teaching Experience
2025 Earth Camp for rising 11th graders, focused on Michigan geology and evidence of past lake-level changes
2025 Paleontology Lab, EARTH 419; weekend trip to Paleozoic sites in the Midwest
2024 Co-instructor, What Really Happens at Night in a Museum?: Multidisciplinary Approaches for Exploring Ecology and Evolution
2023, 2025 Guest lecturer, University of Michigan Analytical Paleobiology: “Coverage-Based Rarefaction”
2022 Graduate Student Instructor, EARTH 201: Introduction to Geography Lecture and Labs, University of Michigan
2021 Instructor, BISC 1112: Introduction to Biology Lab—The Biology of Organisms, The George Washington University
2020 Instructor, BISC 1111: Introduction to Biology Lab—Cells and Molecules, The George Washington University
2019 Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, BISC 1112: Introduction to Biology Lab—The Biology of Organisms, The George Washington University
Professional Service
Peer review: Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan
2026 Michigan Geophysical Union Judge, undergraduate posters
2025 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Graduate Secretary and Outreach Chair; Minneapolis, Minnesota
2024 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Graduate Secretary and Social Committee; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2024 North American Paleontology Convention, Student Chair and DEI Committee; Ann Arbor, Michigan
2023 Great Lakes Student Paleo Conference, Organizing Committee for the fifth conference; Ann Arbor, Michigan
2021–present Black in Natural History Museums, Founding Member and Website Manager
Invited Speaker
2025 “Hopping Hotspots: Comparing the Marine Cenozoic Records of Invertebrates and Fishes,” No Bones Seminar, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
2025 “Overview of the Fossil Record of Marine Fishes in the Cenozoic,” Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2024 “Measuring Diversity Patterns Through Time,” with coding workshop, Interdisciplinary Global Change Biology Meeting
2024 Panelist for the opening of the Black in Natural History exhibit, University of Florida
2024 “Origin of the (W)Indo-Pacific Biodiversity Hotspot,” Friends of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
2023 “A Paleontological Perspective on the Origin of the Indo–West Pacific Biodiversity Hotspot,” Queensland Museum
Online Talks and Videos
2022 Evolutionary Biologist Video, Black in Natural History Museums
2022 Importance of Museums for an exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
2021 Moderator, Black in Natural History Role Models, Black in Natural History Museums Week
Outreach
2024 ID Day, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History; matching fossil and extant morphology
2024 ID Day, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History; paleogeographic puzzle activity
2024 Guest speaker for Scouts Earth Science Badge
2023, 2025 Women in Science and Engineering Night, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
2022–2025 Scientist Spotlight, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
2019 Insect Biodiversity, Adams Morgan Oyster Bilingual School
2017 Volunteer, USA Science & Engineering Festival, Washington, DC
2017–2019 Evolution and Biodiversity Ambassador, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; 120 total service hours
2025 Linocut prints of reef fishes for the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists book raffle
2022 Endemism in the Red Sea, presented at the University of Michigan Ecology of Fishes Film Festival with Anderson
2017 The Amazing Hydrogen Bond
Educational Material
2018 The George Washington University Lab Textbook: Introduction to Biology Lab: Cells & Molecules
2017 Water We Learning
Workshops and Online Courses
2025 Physalia, Introduction to R Shiny, January 27–28
2024 Physalia, Biogeography in R, September 5–11
2023 PaleoSynthesis, Analytical Paleobiology School, August 21–September 8
2023 Physalia, Mapping and Spatial Analysis in R: Using R as a GIS, October 23–27
2023 Physalia, Paleobiology in R, January 12–17
Field Work
2026 Geological: Carboniferous fish material from Bear Gulch, Montana — 5 days
2026 Geological: Carboniferous fish material around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — 5 days
2025 Geological: Carboniferous fish material around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — 8 days
2025 Geological: Carboniferous fish material from mines in Lansing, Michigan — 1 day
2024 Geological: Carboniferous fish material around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — 2 days
2018 Biological: Scripps Pier molluscan larvae collecting, San Diego, California — 10 weeks
Collections
2026 Museum of Natural History, Copenhagen, Denmark — 2 days
2025 National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France — 5 days
2023 Queensland Museum Tropics, Townsville, Queensland, Australia — 3 days
2023 Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany — 4 days
2023 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands — 5 days
2023 National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France — 5 days
Mentorship (selected)
Raven Killbrew
B.S. Earth and Environmental Science
Concentration: Paleontology
Anna Zhao
B.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Minor: Paleontology
Recommendation for the Stocker-Nesbitt Fund; received
Secret skills
I am a great barista :)