Leila Basti obtained her Eng. (Hons.) in 2004 (National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, first Engineering Institute founded in Africa). Her research on coastal ecology and stock assessment, using GIS, earned her the double Engineer Laureate Prize from the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries, Tunisia. She obtained her MSc and PhD in Marine Science from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT). She is the recipient of the prestigious Japanese Governmental Scholarship (Monbukagakusho, Embassy recommendation 2004, 2007), the Strategic Young Researcher Fellowship (TUMSAT 2010), and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship (JSPS 2013). Dr. Basti was a research fellow at the Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Japan, and was appointed an assistant professor, in 2015, at TUMSAT funded by the government, making her the first Arab and African woman to hold such an academic position in Japan. Her research spans over several fields including climate change, aquaculture, human health, and food and water security. She served as a PI on several research projects funded by MEXT and KAKENHI. She was a visiting scientist and a visiting professor to several world-leading research institutes and universities in USA, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Japan, and New Zealand. She is on the editorial board of three Q1 journals, and has over 60 presentations and scientific session chairing at international events (Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa, USA, South America). In 2017, she joined the world aquaculture society as the international program chair of WA2020 Singapore.