Dr. Abdel-Haleem has made significant contributions to research in brassicas, camelina (Camelina sativa), guayule (Parthenium argentatum), and soybean. His research focuses on conducting applied plant breeding, genetics and genomics research toward the development of improved bioenergy and industrial crops for semi-arid and sustainable agricultural systems. In particular, he conducts studies to identify candidate genes controlling abiotic stress tolerance traits, and identify new germplasm that can be used to develop superior cultivars to meet global climate change challenges and increasing demand for new clean bioenergy resources.