Spotlight

Joseph Oppong Akowuah was focused on both school and sport growing up. He is an accomplished educator, agricultural engineer, and footballer. He even had to choose between progressing in professional, club football or attending university. During our talk on Zoom, I got the impression that the choice between playing and studying was exceedingly difficult and one he might still debate today. He ultimately chose to attend Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and excelled as a student. That meant he eventually took up a teaching and research position at the institution. Continue reading...

Dr. Olaniyi Fawole initially wanted to be a medical doctor and his dream has always been to support wellness. It turns out Dr. Fawole’s work, as a professor and researcher at both Stellenbosch University and the University of Johannesburg, has not strayed away from this idea, as it is firmly focused on how the preservation of nutritious food can ultimately improve health outcomes. Olaniyi is greatly fulfilled by his work on postharvest preservation and processing of horticultural and medicinal crops and is newly engaged in developing his own lab at the University of Johannesburg. Continue reading...

I reached Dr. Wendy White on a Zoom video call last week to talk about her research and being the newest Consortium team member. As it turns out we have something in common, she’s an east coaster (USA) that settled in Iowa, and I’m an Iowan who spent a lot of time in New England and the Tri-state area. We had a lot to talk about including discussing upstate and downstate New York and which states have the best beaches and most wonderful accents. We both agreed Rhode Island beaches are phenomenal and hope the regional accents are perpetuated. There are just too many accents to pick through here, but my personal favorite is the Mainer (downeast) accent. Continue reading...

I reached Zamorano University Professor Alejandra Sierra via Google Hangouts in the midst of serious COVID-19 containment actions occurring for her in Honduras and also for myself in the United States. These actions limit Professor Sierra to only one trip to the grocery store per week, with the day being chosen by the digits of her national identification number. Continue reading...