Dalmas Odhiambo Ngere joined ILRI-on 2 May 2014 as a General Laboratory Assistant BecA-Hub. He previously worked for Chemserve Cleaning Services Company. He is a trained community health worker with a lot of experience gained from Care-International Kenya and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Patrick Muinde joined ILRI on 2 May 2014 as a Research Technician in the Animal Biosciences program  working  for a project titled ‘Epidemiology, Ecology and Socio-economics of Disease Emergence in Nairobi’. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nairobi. Previously he had been working on the same project as an intern.

Maurice Karani joined ILRI on 2 May 2014 as Research Technician in the Animal Biosciences Program. He holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Nairobi. Prior to this appointment he was a Research Intern for eleven months where he was involved in the project Epidemiology, Ecology and socio-economics disease emergence in Nairobi.

Collins Mutai has been appointed as research assistant BecA-Hub with effect from 1 May 2014 to supporting the research activities of the Brachiaria and the goat improvement projects.Previously, he worked for the Kenya Medical Research Institute as a research assistant within the Center for Virus Research. During this period, his work focused on molecular characterization of vector-borne viruses (arboviruses) of medical and veterinary importance including outbreak investigation, routine surveillance and vector biology. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Technology from the University of Nairobi and Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. His MSc project focused on the molecular characterization of Bluetongue virus capping protein (VP4) and its interaction with other Bluetongue proteins.

Emmanuel Muunda Mwau joined ILRI as a Research Assistant on 9 June, 2014 in the Food Safety and Zoonoses program. He holds a  Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource Management – NRM  from Egerton University. Emmanuel has specialized training in Resource Mobilization, Advocacy, Program Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning (MERL). He has great expertise in sustainable resource management, ENRM research, Dryland rehabilitation, range, forest and water resources management, Plant Eco-physiology, resource economics, resource mapping and data analyses.He has hands on experience in project planning and coordination with a particular focus on sustainable resource management interventions that contribute to poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. Before joining ILRI, Emmanuel worked as a Projects Coordinator for Water and Livelihoods Network (WALINET) where he was coordinating projects on promoting citizen participation in devolved governance and natural resource management.

Mary Wambugu joined ILRI on 1 June 2014 as a Technical Support Coordinator BecA-Hub . Mary has a Master of Science degree in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology from University of Nairobi. Until her appointment, she gained exposure working with CIMMYT where she learned more on plant breeding as a science and practical experiences in the maize agronomy and maize breeding. She has experience on DNA extraction, PCR amplification, nucleic acid quantification, DNA sample preparation for sequencing and sequence data analysis using TASSEL, Gene mapper and Darwin. She is trained on technical writing of scientific papers as well as preparing reports and communicating the research findings.

Muthoni Mucheru joined ILRI on 1 June, 2014 as a Legal Officer within IPP Directorate. Prior to joining ILRI, she worked with the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Strathmore University. During her tenure at CIPIT, Muthoni dealt with Intellectual Property portfolio management, patent drafting and filing, research and consultation in IP, branding and marketing, and licensing of intellectual assets. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and a post graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law and is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

Vallerie Muckoya joined CIFOR-ILRI as an Analytical Chemist on 4 June 2014. She has 3 years’ experience in Analytical Chemistry gained in academia combined with a wealth of private commercial work experience with numerous trainings. Vallerie’s career track has included heading the Environmental/instruments laboratory at SGS Kenya limited based in Mombasa. Her main role was pioneering the commissioning and set up of the newly acquired Agilent 6460 triple quadrupole Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS QQQ), whose pilot project was comprehensive analysis of 240 pesticides in fruits and vegetables for export to the EU. Out of these 170 pesticides were successfully validated and accredited by the South African national accreditation body (SANAS). Other projects also carried out included antibiotics, mycotoxins and vitamins in foods. She is an ISO 17025 internal auditor having undergone training at SGS and KEBS. She has also worn an international chromatography award from LECO South Africa in July 2013. She has a  Master of science degree in Analytical chemistry from the University of Botswana and a Bachelor of Science  degree in Analytical chemistry from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture And Technology.

Edwin Mainye joined ILRI as an Audio Visual Technician for video conferencing on June 9, 2014 with the ICT department. He has more than ten years’ experience in ICT Systems in private and public service. He has previously served as an ICT Team Assistant with United Nation Conference Services. He has also worked as Help desk Administrator and ICT technician with Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. He holds a higher national diploma in Computer Technology and networking engineering, Edwin also has served in various external ICT firms in Nairobi and regional counties offering professional services in the areas of telecommunication.

Titus Kathurima joined ILRI as Research Technician on 9 June 2014  in BecA-Hub working on Genomic Platform. Titus is an educationist with more than 10 years experience in lecturing applied sciences in universities and middle level tertiary institution. He had conducted his masters’ project in IITA hosted institution and was an ABCF fellow in ILRI-BecA Hub.

Evalyne Nyawira joined ILRI as a Research Technician with the Food Safety and Zoonosis Program on 9 June 2014. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from Egerton University and a Master’s degree in Veterinary Tropical, Diseases from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She has more than five years laboratory experience having worked in other ILRI projects in Nairobi and Busia. Before joining the Food Safety and Zoonosis Program, she worked with the Infectious Diseases of East African Livestock (IDEAL) project in Busia for three years. Currently, she is responsible for the screening of all the serum samples collected from livestock and humans for the key zoonotic diseases being studied (including brucellosis, Rift Valley fever, coxiellosis and leptospirosis) using Elisa tests. In addition to contributing to the development of the DDDAC project reports and the development of new concept notes.

Peter Muchira joined ILRI on 15 June 2014 as ICT Business System Administrator. He has over five years Information Systems implementation experience. Peter’s skills repertoire include Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) roll-out, development and support for various organizations – Banks, NGOs, Academic institutions and Financial Services Providers. Prior to joining ILRI, he worked for five years with Impax Business Solutions, an IT solutions company, where he led successful projects in Kenya and Botswana. He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Information Sciences (IT) from Moi University.

Joseph Ndungu joined ILRI as ICT Business Manager on 15 June 2014. He has over 7 years proven experience in the ICT industry.  Joseph  worked for Nairobi Women’s Hospital as the Senior Systems Administrator/ IS corporate Learning Administrator. He has vast experience in the fields of Information Systems and Finance, technical experience in ERP Systems implementation and integration, database management, communication and network infrastructure and has served in many Educational Institutions and health industries in different capacities. He holds a Bachelors of Business Information Technology (BBIT) degree.  He is an Oracle Certified Associate, FMIS, AMIS, Microsoft Dynamics AX certification and currently finalizing on is Master of Science degree in Distributed Computing and Technology majoring in Computer Forensics and Cyber Security from University of Nairobi.

Gideon Ndambuki joined ILRI as an Animal Technician on 9 June 2014 in the Biosciences Program, African Swine Fever/East Coast Fever project.  He holds a Diploma in Biotechnology from the Kenya Polytechnic University College, An Animal Health certificate from A.H.I.T.I. Ndomba and Artificial insemination certificate from A.H.T.I. Kabete. Gideon has worked in ILRAD and ILRI in various capacities in the research field. He has hands on experience in the Laboratory techniques and Field work animal sampling, organization of focus group discussions, data collection within the Pig value chain industry in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda.