Mohamed Shimal

Mr. Mohamed Shimal has been serving as the Director General of the Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI) since April 2025. The MMRI operates under the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources and functions as the research arm of the Ministry responsible for conducting scientific research on fisheries resources, mariculture and marine ecosystem.

Shimal joined the MMRI (then Marine Research Centre) in early 2015 as a Senior Research Officer following the completion of Bachelor of Environmental Science with a specialization in Wildlife conservation biology at Charles Darwin University, Australia, under Australian Awards Scholarship. In 2020, he obtained his Master of Science in Marine Biology at Bangor University, United Kingdom through Chevening Scholarship. Since joining MMRI, he has served in various capacities, including as a Marine Biologist under Reef-based fisheries Monitoring and Research Section and as a Director at Pelagic Fisheries Monitoring and Research Section. He has also served as Reef Fisheries Programme Officer and as Research and Science Coordinator under the World Bank funded Sustainable Fisheries Resources Development Project, implemented by the Ministry. In these roles, Shimal contributed significantly to the planning and implementation of fisheries research initiatives, with a particular focus on establishing long-term reef-based fisheries monitoring programs for resource assessment while also contributing to Maldives’ science engagements at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. Shimal has also represented Maldives and MMRI at several local and international forums relating to fisheries and marine research. He has also participated extensively in field-based research activities, including fisheries sampling, coral reef monitoring and various international collaborative research programs implemented by MMRI.

Shimal has a strong interest in data management and reproducible analysis, statistical programming in R, and geospatial mapping, with a focus on automating data analysis routines. He is very committed to improving of scientific work at MMRI, with a particular emphasis on mentorship and the transfer of knowledge and skills within the research teams, as well as on building institutional capacity through external support and collaborative research projects. 

Current role and responsibility

Director General, Maldives Marine Research Institute, Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources – Guiding and supervision or marine research programs implemented at MMRI and overall administration management of the Institute.