icipe Director General honoured for research impact on African farmers
26 September 2019 — St Louis, Missouri, USA, 25 – 27 September 2019: icipe Director General (DG) & CEO, Dr Segenet Kelemu, has been recognised as the 2019 Science Honoree of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, an institution that aims to improve human condition through plant science (https://www.danforthcenter.org/)
Each year, the Center acknowledges an exceptional individual who has had extraordinary impact in agriculture, food nutrition, or human health. Dr Kelemu was honoured for her distinguished career in advancing international agricultural research to deliver impact for African farmers.
Dr Kelemu is the first African to receive the Danforth Center Science Honoree recognition. She joins a list of previous acclaimed awardees including: Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the World Food Prize, Norman Borlaug: internationally renowned botanist and powerful conservation advocate, Peter Raven (USA); eminent plant biologist and geneticist, Joanne Chory (USA); Sir David Baulcombe, a British plant scientist and geneticist; and Vicki Chandler, noted as one of the foremost geneticists in the world.
“It is a great privilege to receive an award that combines two of my passions: science and agriculture,” noted Dr Kelemu.
“Much of my scientific career has focussed on using molecular tools to address agricultural constraints. In addition, having grown up in rural Ethiopia, I have been continually inspired by the possibility of changing the lives of farmers, moving from a vicious cycle of struggle to a virtuous one of prosperity,” she added.
Dr Kelemu described icipe as an outstanding institution that strongly epitomises her ideology of science and agriculture, observing: “While icipe generates high quality, world class knowledge, the Centre’s most authentic strength is the success in transforming livelihoods of numerous endusers including farmers.”
The presentation of the 2019 Science Honoree to Dr Kelemu marked the start of Danforth Center’s 20th Annual Fall Symposium. The DG delivered the inaugural presentation at the event, whose theme was ‘Crop Improvement: Climate Resilience for Nutrition’.
Notes for Editors
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology: Our mission is to help alleviate poverty, ensure food security, and improve the overall health status of peoples of the tropics, by developing and disseminating management tools and strategies for harmful and useful arthropods, while preserving the natural resource base through research and capacity building. icipe gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the following core donors: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); UK Aid, from the government of the United Kingdom; the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya; and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In addition, icipe receives restricted project funding from a range of institutions from across the world, among them, governments, private foundations and United Nations agencies. icipe also benefits from extensive partnerships with research collaborators (including universities and research institutes in Africa and beyond), private sector partners, and communities across Africa. A comprehensive list of icipe donors and partners is available at: http://www.icipe.org/donors-and-partners. For further information on icipe visit: www.icipe.org.
For further information on Dr Segenet Kelemu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segenet_Kelemu