Cohort: Cohort 3: 2024

Alphonce Mollo is an early career research fellow at the centre of excellence in climate and development at the University of Cape Town. With both a string academic and practical experience in climate, environment, and finance for the poor, Alphonce has delivered and got involved in research, projects and development of plans along the themes. Additionally, Alphonce is also keen on research on climate information services, early warning and civil society involvement in climate governance.

Dr. Agyapong is a committed and hardworking educator and researcher with interest in Public Health research, Nutrition Epidemiology, Nutrition Immunology and Food Environment.

Femi Adekunle BALOGUN had National Diploma (Urban and Regional Planning, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, 1999); Higher National Diploma (Urban and Regional Planning, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, 2004); Bachelor of Science (Economics, Lead City University, Ibadan, 2008); Master of Science (Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2012); Ph.D. (Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2021). He is a member of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (MNITP), a member of Regional Studies Association (UK), and a Registered Town Planner (RTP). He has published locally and internationally. His area of specialisation include: Urban Design and Safety, Urban Security Governance, Housing, and Environmental Planning and Management. Presently, he works in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning as a Lecturer/Researcher. He is a recipient of fellowship award (African Research Universities Alliance – Early Career Researcher (ARUA -ECR), 2023).

I currently serve as a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Prior to this assignment, I served as “Post harvest handling and Value-addition Technology specialist” with United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization for the South Sudan, Country Programme.

My research broadly focuses on sustainable food and Agricultural systems. I am particularly interested in areas of resource recovery from waste, renewable energy utilization for product preservation and processing, and bioconversion for value-addition. I am passionate about developing integrated technical solutions that are affordable, practical, and custom made to the African context. My areas of expertise include Process design and optimization, design and human ergonomics, and development Engineering. I am an active member of the American society for Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ASABE) as well as Engineering for Change (E4C).

A functional electronic materials engineer in nanoscale interface control for advanced materials for applications in the following major areas:
– Renewable energy generation devices such as PEM-Fuel Cells (e.g., durable electrocatalysts, durable electrolyte membranes, etc.); Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells; and recently venturing into Perovskite Solar cells, and plans for rechargeable batteries.
– (Hierarchically porous) materials for various applications, especially for heterogenous catalysis.
– Surface wettability control and Electrowetting studies.
I am quite passionate about translating my research results into solving practical human challenges, especially, on the African continent. I am seeking collaborative partners whereby we can complement our works to produce novel works that may ultimately translate into practical applications.

Selorm Yaotse Dorvlo is an Agricultural Mechanization Expert and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Ghana. His research focuses on developing sustainable agricultural mechanization strategies for smallholder rice farmers in Ghana, assessing the potential of biomass conversion to energy within the agricultural production sector, and designing innovative and suitable agricultural machinery. Selorm is also a professional engineer registered with the Ghana Institution of Engineering. He has been involved in various research projects through grants he has received, such as the post-doctoral fellowship with the Food Systems Research Network for Africa (FSNet-Africa), the Feed the Future Grant for Early Career researchers, and the ARUA-Carnegie Early Career research fellowship.

Deborah D. Adeyemo is a lecturer in the Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan. She holds an LL. B from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. She has an LL. M from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. She obtained her PhD in International Criminal Law from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. She is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association. She is a DAAD academic excellence scholar (2013) and a co-recipient of the Solidarity Fund for Innovation Project (FSPI) Grant (2022). Her primary research interest is in the field of public law with special interest in issues relating to criminal justice, crime prevention and international criminal law.

Dr. Akwasi Adu-Poku is an ARUA-Carnegie Early Career Research Fellow currently based at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town. He is also a Research Fellow at The Brew Hammond Energy Centre, Ghana.
Akwasi’s expertise spans renewable energy systems, energy policy, and climate adaptation. His interdisciplinary work is driven by a commitment to advancing sustainable development and climate resilience in Africa.
At ACDI, his research focuses on climate and energy governance in Ghana, with a particular emphasis on policy coherence, institutional frameworks, and multi-dimensional inequality. He aims to generate insights to support more effective and inclusive climate policy development in Ghana and across the continent.

Dr. Nixon Wamamela is a lecturer in the department of Philosophy, Makerere University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts in Philosophy and PhD in the same field from Makerere University. Dr. Nixon Wamamela has extensive trainings in human rights and governance from Makerere University, University of Dar es Salaam and Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. He is a beneficiary of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Next Generation of Social Sciences in Africa, University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars Program and African Research Universities Alliance Early-Career research fellowships. His areas of research, teaching and publication are political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of law. His future prospect is impactful academic career growth in the area of political and legal philosophy.

Dr. Amare is an assistant professor at Addis Ababa University, Department of Management. He has over 16 years of experience in management teaching and consulting various public and private organizations. Before joining Addis Ababa University, Dr. Amare worked as director of Human Resource Management and Development at Arba Minch University. Dr Amare earned his Ph.D. in Commerce specializing in Entrepreneurship and MSMEs from Mangalore University and is currently the head of Academic Programs and Teaching Learning Support Unit for the College of Business and Economics. He has research articles published in international journals. Dr Amare was the Deputy Director of Addis Ababa University’s Strategic Planning Office and the head of the Executives Idea Exchange forum of Addis Ababa University, which was a quarterly forum that brought policymakers and researchers together. Currently, he won an Early-Career Research Fellowship at the University of Lagos under the ARUA-Carnegie ECR 2023 scheme.