Dr Tadele Tefera is Country Head of the icipe Ethiopia Office; he provides leadership to staff on site as well as oversight of icipe’s research portfolio in Ethiopia. Reporting to the Director General of icipe, he is part of a multidisciplinary team providing leadership and research strategy to icipe’s Ethiopia Office, and establishing collaborative linkages with national, regional and international institutions in the relevant fields of research. His team was awarded outstanding team of the year 2017 award by icipe management.

Previously, Dr Tefera worked as a regional project leader and senior entomologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Nairobi Kenya, from 2009 to 2015, where he mainly focused on developing insect-resistant maize hybrids and inbred lines and effective technology for integrated postharvest pest management.

Dr Tefera was a research fellow of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Gottingen University, Germany, from 2008 to 2009. He worked as Associate Professor and Director of Agricultural Research and Extension at Haramaya University from 2004 to 2008. He also worked as a consultant for the World Bank in evaluating the Africa Stockpiles Programme conducted in 6 African countries in 2015. He is a former editor-in-chief (2005 to 2008) of the East African Journal of Sciences. Currently, he is a governing board member of the International Association for the Plant Protection Science (IAPPS).

Tadele has vast experience in in biological control of insect pests, breeding for insect resistance, genetically modified maize, environmental safety of GMO, biopesticides, postharvest pest management, integrated pest management and agroecology. He has mentored over 30 post-docs, PhD and MSc students. He has authored over 100 publications, including books, book chapters and articles in referred journals, and has one patent right from his research findings. His publications have been cited 3,382 times with h-index of 31.

Dr Tefera obtained his PhD in Agricultural Entomology in 2004 from Stellenbosch University, and his MSc in Crop Protection in 1998 and BSc in Agriculture (Plant Sciences) in 1993, both from Haramaya University.