Training the trainers: an interview with Carol Ibe on the importance of building networks for agricultural research in African countries

Abstract

Carol Ibe is a Postdoctoral Scientist in the Saunders Lab at the John Innes Centre, Norwich. She received her PhD in Plant Sciences (as a Gates Scholar) from the University of Cambridge in 2020. From Nigeria, Carol understands the urgent need to develop the right capacity to advance bioscience education, research, and innovation to eradicate hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty in Africa. This led her to set up the JR Biotek Foundation, a non-profit organisation that is providing Africa-based early-career agricultural researchers with the right skillset and opportunities to improve widely consumed crop varieties in African countries, and to foster links between the lab and market to support smallholder farmers in the region. Her unwavering dedication and passion to improve the lives of others through her research and Foundation’s work has led to numerous awards including the University of Cambridge Society for the Application of Research Awards (CSAR) and the 2019 Bill Gates Sr. Prize.