Professor Dr. Osama Qasim Khalifa, Dean of the College of Marine Sciences, participated as a member and supervisor of the Master's thesis defense committee for graduate student Zainab Hassan Faza'a in the Department of Earth Sciences, College of Science, University of Basra. Her thesis was titled "A Sedimentary and Paleontological Study of the Upper Water Bodies in Ras Al-Bisha, Southern Iraq." The defense took place in the Graduate Studies Hall at the College of Science at 9:00 AM on Thursday, July 23, 2026.

The examining committee consisted of the following esteemed professors:
1. Professor Dr. Abbas Hamid Mohammed / Chairman
2. Assistant Professor Dr. Mohammed Sattam Abbas / Member
3. Assistant Professor Dr. Najid Faisal Sharif / Member

The thesis included an environmental, mineralogical, and biological study of the Ras al-Bisha tidal flats in Iraq to predict hydrodynamic and climatic changes. This was achieved through the analysis of vertical sediment samples at a depth of 6 meters using wet sieving, X-ray diffraction, and fossil separation and classification.

The results showed the dominance of fine-grained silt and clay sediments of fluvial origin (from the Karun River), deposited in a low-energy environment, with a predominance of calcite, quartz, and dolomite minerals. The results also confirmed the presence of a biogradation of fossils and shellfish, demonstrating the region's exposure to freshwater estuaries. Environmental stresses and abrupt changes in salinity and sedimentation energy were observed across different depths.