Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research

2015 Legume Scholars Chosen

The Management Office for the Legume Scholars Program at Michigan State University is pleased to announce that the 2015 recipients of the prestigious Legume Scholars Award have been selected. Three women and three men will begin their Ph.D. programs in grain legume-related fields as diverse as agricultural economics, nutrition and food science, drought resilience, and integrated crop management this fall semester.

This first cohort of Legume Scholars was chosen from a pool of more than 200 talented nominees. Their high academic potential and commitment to a career focused on grain legume research will contribute to the strengthening of research institutions serving legume sectors in developing countries in the near and distant future.

As master’s (1) and Ph.D. degree students (5), these Legume Scholars will receive full tuition and living expenses to support their studies at a major U.S. research university, medical coverage, airfare and related travel expenses, a personal computer, field and lab research opportunities, and professional development workshops for up to four years (up to two years for a master’s student). Upon completion of their degree, Legume Scholars are required to return to their home country to pursue a career in grain legume research with a national agriculture research organization, agriculture university, or a CGIAR Center.

Each of the awardees was nominated and received a strong recommendation from a scientist conducting research on grain legumes at one of the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, the CGIAR Research Centers, or in a developing country national agriculture research organization or university. University and graduate program advisors were selected because of their affiliation with a USAID-funded Innovation Lab supporting grain legume research and their commitment to collaborating with a CGIAR grain legume research scientist in co-supervising a Legume Scholar’s PhD thesis research project.

The first Legume Scholars Award recipients are listed below with a brief description of their future research plans. The Legume Scholars Program is still working with the candidates, their U.S. universities, and the USAID Missions to ensure visas and admittance for Fall 2015 program matriculation. Regular updates on their research and progress will be posted on this website under the “Training: Legume Scholars” section of the menu bar on the Legume Innovation Lab's website. Please return for more information and regular updates.

• Mr. Aggrey Gama (Malawi) will be investigating groundnut value addition and safety in the Food Science & Technology Department at the University of Georgia under Dr. Koushik Adhikari. The CGIAR ICRISAT scientist who will be co-supervising Mr. Gama’s doctoral research will be chosen in the coming months.

  

• Ms. Rosemary Bulyaba (Uganda) will be investigating the integrated crop managementof common bean in the Agronomy Department at Iowa State University under Dr. Andrew Lenssen. The CGIAR CIAT research scientist who will be co-supervising Ms. Bulyaba’s doctoral research will be chosen in the coming months.
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• Ms. Susan Mokong'u Moenga (Kenya) will be investigating drought resilience of chickpea in the Plant Biology Department at the University of California, Davis, under Dr. Douglas Cook. The CGIAR ICRISAT research scientist who will be co-supervising Ms. Moengu’s doctoral research will be chosen in the coming months.

• Ms. Pacem Kotchofa (Benin) will be investigating the cowpea value chain in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University with Dr. Vincent Amanor-Boadu. The CGIAR IITA grain legume research scientist who will be co-supervising Ms. Kotchofa’s doctoral research will be will be Dr. Ousmane Coulibaly.

• Mr. Isaac Osei-Bonsu (Ghana) will be investigating photosynthesis in grain legumes in the Plant Biology Department at Michigan State University under Dr. David Kramer. The CGIAR from ICARDA/ICRISAT grain legume
  research scientist who will be co-supervising Mr. Osei-Bonsu’s doctoral research will be determined in the coming months.

  Ms. Viviana Ortiz Londono (Colombia) will be studying entomology/IPM, seeking an MS degree with Dr. Barry Pittendrigh at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in preparation for further studies. The CGIAR CIAT/IITA research scientist who will be co-supervising will be chosen in the coming months.

The Legume Scholars Program is a partnership between the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Grain Legumes (Legume Innovation Lab) and Peanut Productivity and Mycotoxin Control (Peanut & Mycotoxin Innovation Lab).

The program specifically targets promising young scientists from developing countries committed to pursuing research careers involving legume crops. Graduates from the program will further strengthen the research capacity of institutions in their home countries committed to the growth and development of the legume sectors through scientific inquiry. With the advent of this impressive first cohort of Legume Scholars, the future of grain legume research looks bright.

For more information about the Legume Scholars Award, contact the Legume Scholars Management Office at Michigan State University at legumescholar@anr.msu.edu.