ILRI Kenya

Impact at Scale 

Joyce Makau joined the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in July 2019 as monitoring evaluation and learning (MEL) officer in the Impact at Scale program, Livestock Value Chain (LVC). Previously, she worked as research associate as well as data manager at Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development for 10 years where she was in-charge of LVC’s monitoring and evaluation activities and the learning agenda. Makau holds a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural education and extension and a Master of Science degree in agricultural and applied economics, both from the University of Nairobi.  She has close to 10 years’ experience in impact evaluations; qualitative and quantitative surveys; designing of questionnaires in Open Data Kit (ODK) and SurveyCTO and overall data management experience and exposure.

Esther Ng’ang’a joined ILRI’s Impact at Scale program, Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) unit as data analyst in July 2019. She is responsible for designing the database, questionnaires and other survey tools, conducting data verification, cleaning and data collection, analysis and report writing. Formerly, she was working with Batiment Engineering and Associates in designing research methodologies and reporting specifically in the water sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a major in statistics.

Corporate Services

Esther Munyasia was appointed accounts assistant in ILRI’s Finance Department in July 2019. Before this, she was working at Tusker Mattresses Ltd (Tuskys) as assistant accountant. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Egerton University and is currently completing her Certified Public Accountants course.

 

Peter Muriithi joined ILRI in August 2019 as accounts assistant. Previously, he worked for Maersk Group as finance operations associate, where he assisted in vendor management. Muriithi holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce (accounting) from the University of Nairobi and is currently pursing Certified Public Accountant designation.

Biosciences

Edwin Chelule was appointed ILRI’s institutional veterinarian in July 2019. He is responsible for the animal health and welfare of the research and farm animals as well as providing technical support to scientists in their experiments. Prior to this appointment, he was ILRI’s site coordinator for the Dairy Genetics East Africa (2011–2014), dairy technical advisor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Kenya Agricultural Value Chain project (2014–2016) and most recently, resident vet and livestock manager at Wangu Embori Farm and Gicheha Farms Ltd. Chelule holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nairobi.

Animal and Human Health

Irene Kagera was appointed research associate in the MoreMilk project in the Animal and Human Health program in July 2019. She is responsible for coordinating laboratory analysis to check on milk quality and building the capacity to fellows joining the project and associated projects. Previously, she was at ILRI as research assistant for four years working on food and feed safety in the milk value chain with emphasis on mycotoxins and pathogens. Recently she completed her graduate fellowship at ILRI where she worked on an intervention to reduce aflatoxins in milk at the farm level. Kagera holds a BSc degree in biochemistry and is an MSc degree in food science and nutrition finalist at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

 

Emmanuel Khazalwa joined the Animal and Human Health program in July 2019. He is responsible for carrying out cell cultures, immunological assays, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and data analyses. He was formerly at the Kenya Medical Research Institute-Centre for Global Health Research (KEMRI-CGHR) for three years, where he worked with various collaborators on anemia, cancer, malaria and vector epidemiology using molecular and serological tools. Previously, he also worked at the Aga Khan Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and the Walter Reed Projects in Kisumu. He holds a BSc in medical laboratory sciences and MSc in immunology.

 

Josiah Odaba joined ILRI in August 2019 as research associate in the Animal and Human Health program. He is responsible for providing support for field and lab work activities. Before joining ILRI, he was working on a zoonotic project in western Kenya with KEMRI. Odaba holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Eldoret.

 

Bernard Oduor joined ILRI’s Animal and Human Health program as research associate in August 2019. Prior to joining ILRI, he worked as graduate research assistant at KEMRI/ Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases (ITROMID), Centre for Biotechnology Research and Development (CBRD). He has also worked as a graduate intern at the KEMRI/Walter Reed Project Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases (DEID) program under the Human Influenza project. He holds a BSc in medical microbiology from JKUAT and is currently finalizing an MSc degree in molecular medicine.

Biosciences eastern and Central Africa (BecA)-ILRI Hub

David Muruu joined the Biosciences eastern and Central Africa (BecA)-ILRI Hub as research associate in August 2019. He is responsible for providing technical support to the Brachiaria grasses research project and other tropical forage species and their identification. He previously worked as research assistant at the BecA-ILRI Hub. He also was a beneficiary of the Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF) Fellowship where he worked on a project that identified and characterized Taro viruses in Kenya. His skills cut across molecular techniques, mycology work, tissue culture and bioinformatics. He holds a BSc degree in agricultural biotechnology from University of Eldoret and is currently completing an MSc in molecular biology and bioinformatics at JKUAT.

Judy Imbanga joined the BecA-ILRI Hub in September 2019 as project manager. Prior to this, she managed and implemented projects at various capacities and was regional manager for Options Consultancy, regional project manager for Plan International – eastern and southern Africa office and program manager for World Vision International. She will be responsible for several projects at the Hub. She holds a master’s degree in development studies from Catholic University of East Africa, a postgraduate degree in development studies from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Bachelor of Science degree in natural resources management from Egerton University

 

Sustainable Livestock Systems

Michael Graham has been appointed postdoctoral fellow– bio-geochemical modelling/remote sensing in the Sustainable Livestock Systems program, Mazingira Center effective September 2019. He was previously a graduate research assistant at Virginia Tech.  He holds a PhD in geospatial and environmental analysis from Virginia Tech and an MSc in sustainable agriculture from Iowa State University of Science and Technology.

ILRI Ethiopia

Corporate Services

Tesfaledet Sahlu joined ILRI in July 2019 as housing/front office assistant in the Administration Department under the Housing, Catering and Conferencing Unit. Prior to joining ILRI, he was an airport representative at Intercontinental Hotel, Addis Ababa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in tourism management from Arba Minch University.

 

Feed and Forage Development
Mekuanent Fentahun joined ILRI in July 2019 as research associate– germplasm conservation in the Feed and Forage Development program. Prior to joining ILRI, he was working as genetic resource conservation expert in the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute. He holds a BSc degree in plant science from Debre Markos University.

 

Yesuf Eshete joined ILRI in July 2019 as research associate– germplasm health in the Feed and Forage Development program. Before joining ILRI, he was working as an associate researcher of plant pathology in Jinka Agricultural Research Center. He holds an MSc degree in pathology from Hawassa University and a BSc degree in forestry from Wondo Genet Forestry and Natural Resources College.

 

 

Anchinesh Mamo joined ILRI in September 2019 as technical assistant in the Feed and Forage Development program. Before joining ILRI, she was working as laboratory assistant in the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research– Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory

 

 

Saba Ermyas joined ILRI in September 2019 as communications officer for Impact at Scale and Animal and Human Health programs. Before joining ILRI, she was working as a communications officer with GIZ Ethiopia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and communications from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

 

Sustainable Livestock Systems

Haimanot Seifu joined ILRI in September 2019 as communications officer in the Sustainable Livestock Systems program. Before joining ILRI, she was communications officer in the Agricultural Transformations Agency (ATA). She holds a Master of Business Administrations degree from Jimma University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in global studies and international relations from the New Generations University, Ethiopia.