National Recruited Staff-Kenya (NRS)

Nehemiah Kimengich joined ILRI in January 2019 as ranch manager in Kapiti in the Animal Biosciences program. Prior to this, he worked as farm manager in various farms in Kenya (ELFAM limited and Westwood dairies n Eldoret)as livestock administrator at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. He will oversee all the livestock production and financial management activities in the ranch. management He will also assist in research activity facilitation. Kimengich holds a Bachelor of Science degree in animal health management and a Master of Science degree in animal nutrition both from Egerton university.

Regina Njeru joined the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Centre for Tropical and Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) team in January 2019 as research assistant-laboratory management where she is responsible for coordinating laboratory activities. She has over a decade of laboratory experience and has a keen interest in laboratory quality management. She worked as laboratory associate at the University of Nairobi Institute of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine (UNITID) supporting the sequencing of HIV drug resistant/TB program. Previously, she also worked as a laboratory coordinator/senior research technologist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Welcome Trust in virology epidemiology control cluster on ongoing surveillance studies of respiratory and enteric viruses in multisite study. Her skills cut across molecular techniques: nucleic acid isolation, PCR, genotyping, partial sequencing, ELISA, cell culture and basic bioinformatics. She holds a master of science in public health from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology and a BSc in medical laboratory science from Mt Kenya University.

Davis Yangah was appointed ILRI’s ICT endpoint officer in January 2019. He was previously ICT customer service technician at ILRI from May 2015 then transitioned to the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) from 2016 to the end of 2018. He will be providing ongoing back-end support on client technology, respond to Level 2 support, developing procedures and monitoring for service improvements. He holds a BSc in computer science from Kabarak University and has more than seven years’ experience in ICT customer service and support. Hewill be based in ILRI offices

Antoinette Miyunga joined the ILRI CTLGH team as research assistant in February 2019. She is responsible for carrying out cell cultures, immunological assays, PCR and qPCR analyses and optimizing results and data analysis. She was previously at the Kenya Wildlife Service Forensic and Genetics Laboratory for five years, where she worked on various projects related to wildlife forensics, population genetics, mycology and epidemiology using molecular tools. She has also worked at the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute. She holds a BSc in biomedical science and technology and an MSc in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Evelyne Kavila was appointed finance and administrative assistant in the Finance department in February 2019. She was previously working with Save the Children as a finance assistant. She holds a degree in economics and finance from Kenyatta University and is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya.

 

Emily Kilonzi joined ILRI in March 2019 as research assistant–zoonosis and food safety in the Animal and Human Health program. She is responsible for providing support for field work activities in different projects. She was previously doing a student fellowship at ICRAF for her master’s degree in environmental governance. Her research interests are in food security, peace and environmental sustainability. Kilonzi holds a bachelor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of Nairobi.

Festus Mutai was appointed research assistant in the Animal and Human Health program in March 2019. He is responsible for supporting the planning, execution and coordination of activities within and outside Kenya. He previously worked as research assistant in the Kenyan Domesticated Rabbits Biodiversity Project at the Institute for Biotechnology Research in Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He has also worked as a graduate intern at the KEMRI/Walter Reed Project focusing on HIV epidemiology. He holds a BSc in biochemistry from the University of Nairobi and is currently completing MSc Biotechnology at JKUAT.

Joab Osumba joined the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in March 2019 as research officer – climate smart agriculture policy specialist in the Climate Smart Agriculture-East Africa (CSA-EA) Projectunder the Sustainable Livestock Systems Program. His work focuses on policy dialogues and policy-based studies in climate-smart agriculture, under CCAFS’ partnership with SNV, Wageningen University and Research, Agriterra and Rabobank Group. Osumba has 29 years’ experience in agricultural extension and 11 years’ experience in agroecology, environmental impact assessments and audits and climate change. He has a PhD in environmental studies and a BSc in agriculture.

Jennifer Kinuthia has been appointed as assistant to capacity development manager in March 2019. She was previously the capacity development assistant at ILRI from January 2014. In this new role, she will be providing a full spectrum of administrative, procurement and financial duties related to fellowship management. She is currently an MBA finalist at Kenyatta University and holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from St. Paul’s University.

National Recruited Staff – Ethiopia (NRS)

Metasebia Tolossa was appointed as facility supervisor in the Engineering and Facilities Management unit in January 2019. She holds master’s degree in Urban Design and Development from Addis Ababa University, and bachelor’s degree in architecture and Urban Planning from Addis Ababa University. Before joining ILRI, she was working as a Lecturer at Addis Ababa university.

 

Binyam Abebe has been appointed as a technical assistant in Livestock Genetics Program in February 2019. Before joining ILRI,  Abebe was working as data collector Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). 

 

 

Tigist Worku has been appointed as a research associate in Sustainable Livestock Systems program in March 2019. She holds master’s degree in Development economics from Addis Ababa University and BA degree in Economics from Haramaya University Before joining ILRI, she has worked as a consultant in ILRI’s Africa RISING project.

 

Henok Yirdaw has been appointed as a senior accountant in Housing, Catering and Conferencing, under Administration department effective March 2019. He holds BA degree in Accounting and Finance from Mekelle University. Before joining ILRI, he was working as assistant financial controller, Ramada Addis Hotel.

National Recruited Staff – Uganda (NRS)

Jama Hope joined the ILRI Uganda office as finance and administration officer in January 2019. Prior to joining ILRI, she worked with University Research Co. LLC as finance and administration officer. She has also previously worked with World Vision, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Uganda and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) in positions of financial management and administration. She brings valuable experience in financial and administrative management, budget preparation and control, procurement and risk management processes, audit and internal controls amongst others. Hope holds a BBA accounting degree from the Makerere University and a postgraduate diploma in project planning and management from the Uganda Management Institute and is a student member of CPA (U).

International Recruited Staff (IRS)

Andrés Palau joined the ILRI Corporate Services team in January 2019 as head of operations. Palau has over 20 years’ experience in management in general including 10 years in operations management in particular; he has expertise in infrastructure management, conflict resolution and strategic planning. He was formerly the executive director of Fundación Alvaralice, and before that, served as head of infrastructure and operations at International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). He has an MBA from ICESI/Tulane universities and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, from the California State University of Sacramento. He is from Colombia.

Michael Victor joined ILRI in January 2019 as head, communications and knowledge management. Before this he was the chief technical advisor/team leader of the Agro-Biodiversity Initiative (TABI) based in Laos. He has worked in research and development for more than 20 years focusing on communication, knowledge management, policy engagement and project design in the agriculture and natural resource management sector. From 2010-2016 he was the communication and knowledge management coordinator for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems. Victor is American.

Abdulfatai Tijjani joined ILRI’s Livestock Genetics Research Program as post-doctoral fellow – livestock genomic analysis (Bioinformatics) in January 2019. He will be working on bioinformatics data analysis of livestock genomes and transcriptomes to identify genomic regions underlying adaptation and productivity traits, in support of breeding programs. He will also be supporting bioinformatics capacity building activities including supervision of postgraduate students at ILRI – Kenya, ILRI – Ethiopia, CTLGH – United Kingdom and training of Partners from within Africa. He holds PhD and MSc degrees in Genetics and Applied Bio-molecular Technology, respectively, from The University of Nottingham, UK, and DVM degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He is Nigerian.

Padmakumar Varijakshapanicker was appointed as research management coordinator in the Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods Program in February 2019. Padma has been working with ILRI since 2009 and is currently managing the Asia hub of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, an initiative of US Government, implemented by University of Florida and ILRI. He is also the acting head of NIRS (Near Infra Red Spectroscopy) feed platform at Patancheru, Hyderabad, India. He holds a Masters in Tropical Animal Production & Health, from the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, U.K. He has been working in the livestock sector for over three decades and brings with him research for development experience in the developing countries including India, Nepal and Cambodia. He is from India.

Ram Deka was appointed research management coordinator in the Animal and Human Health Program in February 2019. He has been working with ILRI since July 2006 as a nationally recruited staff, India under ICRISAT – ILRI contract. Prior to joining ILRI, he was a consultant with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. He holds a MSc in Veterinary medicine, from Assam Agricultural University, MBA in Business Management from Sikkim Manipal University of Technological Sciences and Post graduate Diploma in Rural Development from Indira Gandhi National Open University. He is finalizing his PhD in Clinical Sciences from Swedish University of Agricultural Science. Ram is from India.

Sandro Seixas has been appointed as chief information officer (CIO) (previously head of ICT) effective March 2019. Seixas, a Brazilian, has 25 years of experience in information technology (IT) management in both profit and non-profits companies, leading, designing and implementing projects and coordinating multi-disciplinary and cross functional teams. Prior to this appointment, he was the IT director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Nature Conservancy. He holds an MBA in information system from the Universidade Federal Fluminense and bachelor’s degree in geography from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. He is passionate about new technologies, environment and conservation and enjoys dabbling in GIS and digital mapping. He loves old maps and cartography.

Birgit Habermann joined ILRI’s Sustainable Livestock Systems and Policies Program (SLS) as post-doctoral fellow-participatory livestock technology development and assessment in the Climate Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL) project in March 2019. Previously she worked at BOKU University, Vienna, Austria at the Department for Sustainable Agricultural Systems and the Centre for Development Research. She conducted research on knowledge production, participation and the construction of narratives in natural resource management and conservation and she has studied social aspects of climate change and mitigation. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from Sussex University, an MSc in Ecology from Vienna University, and MSc in Agroforestry from Bangor University. Birgit is Austrian, but has lived in Ethiopia for several years.

Florence Mutua was appointed as scientist – epidemiology in the Animal and Human Health program in March 2019. She is veterinary epidemiologist with over ten years’ experience in academic, teaching, and research in public health, food safety, and animal disease control. She holds a PhD, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, MSc, Veterinary Epidemiology & Economics and Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Nairobi. Florence is Kenyan.

 

Helena Shilomboleni joined the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) East Africa program as a postdoctoral fellow-climate smart agriculture scaling specialist in March 2019. Prior to joining ILRI, she was a professional development award recipient at the International Development Research Center in Ottawa. She holds a PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability and an MA in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.