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After watching a near-biblical swarm of locusts destroy crops in his Ethiopian village, Segenet Kelemu turned to science and changed the world. Segenet, who studied plant and genetic pathology at Montana State, Kansas State, and Cornell University in the US, now heads the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, which is at the forefront of efforts. global goals to defeat food insecurity. (OZY Media)
OZY
ADVANCED SCIENTISTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Because big science is more than fighting COVID-19.
Scientists have rarely played such a fundamental and public role in society, and certainly never before in the digital age. But the centrality of science is much more than the pandemic. Today’s Daily Dose explores scientists who do more than just keep us alive, from the climatologist who could become president to researchers who rectify racial disparities and discover the tunes that make sharks scream “That’s my problem!” OK, so sharks don’t really scream; they communicate with body language. We know this because, well, science.
Segenet Kelemu. You know you’re doing something right when Bill Gates calls you one of his heroes. After watching a near-biblical swarm of locusts destroy crops in his Ethiopian village, Kelemu turned to science and changed the world. First, as the first woman from her region to earn a college degree, which she earned at Addis Ababa University, then while studying plant pathology and genetics at Montana State, Kansas State, and Cornell University in the US, she returned to Africa in 2007, he determined to prevent farmers from suffering devastating losses by better understanding the symbiotic relationship between plants and insects. The 63-year-old now heads the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, which is at the forefront of global efforts to defeat food insecurity.
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Related:
Scientific American: Must Know: Segenet Kelemu, Plant Pathologist
Dr. Segenet Kelemu. (Courtesy photo)
INTRODUCING… DR. SEGENET KELEMU
Dr. Segenet Kelemu has a very impressive resume that includes many well-deserved accolades from colleagues around the world. In 2014 she was appointed Director General of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi and also received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science in 2014.
She studies the microorganisms that live inside the plants of the plain. This research helps us understand how these plants withstand so many challenges: drought, herbivores, pests, and climate change. With this information we can understand how to use biotechnology to help the region – East Africa feed its people and preserve its ecosystems.
I especially love how Dr. Kelemu embraces all of her experience and affinity for her home region to inspire her research. It’s something I write about often: who we are and our relationships with places and events shape our scientific interests and missions.
In his own words:
“I had observed how the people around me spent their time worrying about how to eat. Then I felt a call to do something to help. I saw how two college students had made a direct difference in a town they had been sent to teach by helping people improve their agricultural practices, and I decided to study agriculture. ” from an interview with her published in The East African, May 30, 2014, The Rise of Dr. Kelemu: from climbing trees in rural Ethiopia to excelling in science
He earned his graduate degrees in the United States and also completed a postdoctoral research assignment at Cornell University (I’m convinced they all have a Cornell connection). From there, Dr. Kelemu has had a stellar track record. She has served as Vice President of Programs at the Alliance for Green Revolution African, Director of Biosciences at the International Livestock Research Institute. She was a Senior Scientist, and was later named a Cropr and Agroecosystem Health Management Leader at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
Find out more about the amazing Dr. Kelemu by visiting his wiki page.
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Director General, International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
After twenty-five years of successfully studying and applying cutting-edge science outside of Africa, Dr. Kelemu returned from the diaspora to contribute to the development of Africa. (Photo: Wikimedia)
Dr. Segenet Kelemu is the Director General of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya. She is the fourth executive director and the first woman to lead ICIPE.
Dr. Kelemu (originally from Ethiopia) is a molecular plant pathologist with an emphasis on elucidating molecular determinants of host-pathogen interactions, developing new plant disease control strategies including biopesticides, genetics, and dynamics of populations of pathogens, endophytic microbes and their role in plants. developing. She has experienced the challenges and successes associated with African agriculture firsthand, from tending the fields to running world-class laboratories.
Following her post-doctoral work at Cornell University, USA, Segenet joined the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as a Principal Scientist in 1992. She was later named a Crop and Agroecosystem Health Management Leader in the CIAT until his departure in August 2007, to become Director of BecA. CIAT recognized his many contributions to the center and its mission with the Outstanding Senior Scientist Award.
After twenty-five years of successfully studying and applying cutting-edge science outside of Africa, Dr. Kelemu returned from the diaspora to contribute to the development of Africa. In 2007, she became Director of the Center for East and Central Africa Biosciences (BecA) at the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Under his leadership, the BecA initiative has morphed from a controversial idea into a driving force that is changing the face of African biosciences. BecA’s research capacity, staff, facilities, funding, partners, and training programs have expanded at an ever-increasing rate. It has assembled and inspired a scientific and technical team united by a common passion for using science to enhance the development of Africa’s biosciences.
Before becoming CEO of icipe, she was Vice President of Programs for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for about a year.
She is one of five winners of the 2014 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Awards. She is also one of the 2013 African Academy of Sciences Fellows. He has also received other awards, including the prestigious Friendship Award from the People’s Republic of China. The award is given to foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China’s economic and social development. The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) is awarding the 2011 TWAS Award for Agricultural Sciences. She is the first African to win the Agricultural Science award since its inception. TWAS Awards are awarded to individual scientists from developing countries in recognition of their outstanding contribution to knowledge in eight fields of science: agricultural science, biology, chemistry, earth science, engineering science, mathematics, medical science, and physics. .
Segenet has published widely in trade journals, book chapters, manuals, conference / workshop articles, working papers, and others. Segenet has served on various boards of directors, technical advisory panels, and steering committees of key organizations and major science and technology initiatives. Segenet is also a natural teacher and has supervised and mentored various BSc, MSc and Ph.D. students.
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