Dr Baleba joined icipe in April 2024. A former African Regional Postgraduate Programme in Insect Science (ARPPIS) PhD scholar (2016 – 2019), he holds a PhD in Entomology, specialising in insect behaviour and chemical ecology, from University of Pretoria, South Africa. He also has a Masters degree in Zoology (Agricultural Entomology) and a BSc degree in Animal Biology from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon.

His research spans various disciplines in insect science, including behaviour, chemical ecology, analytical chemistry, electrophysiology, field trapping, ecophysiology, morphometry, pathology and data science. His overarching vision is to leverage these diverse insights to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for managing harmful arthropods, while also pioneering methods to conserve beneficial arthropod populations, thus contributing to ecological balance.

Previously, Dr Baleba was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. He also held positions as a Senior Researcher Officer at icipe, and as a Consultant at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Yaounde, Cameroon.

With over 25 publications to his name, Dr Baleba is recognised for his scholarly contributions to insect science. Besides the ARPPIS scholarship, in 2019, he was awarded the outstanding icipe publication award (2019). He has mentored numerous students from Cameroon, South Africa and Kenya, shaping the next generation of scientists. Additionally, he is an Editor of respected journals such as Vector Ecology and Frontiers in Insect Science.

He is actively engaged in the scientific community, with memberships in esteemed organisations like the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE) and the African Association of Insect Science (AAIS).