Fellows' Gallery
Vavilov-Frankel Fellows
Current Fellows
Esmaeil Ebrahimie (2009)
Esmaeil Ebrahimie of the Department of Crop Production & Plant Breeding of Shiraz University, Iran, was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2009 to carry out a study entitled "Gene discovery in Australian wild native soybeans". The work is being carried out at the Plant Research Centre, The University of Adelaide, Australia, under the supervision of Dr. Brent N. Kaiser. This Fellowship is made with the support of Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. Read the news article.
Danilo Eduardo Moreta Mejía (2009)
Danilo Eduardo Moreta Mejía of the Departamento de Biología of the Universidad del Valle, Colombia, was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2009 to carry out a study entitled "A novel strategy to enhance nitrogen use efficiency in crops by exploiting the the diversity for biological nitrification inhibition in the rice germplasm". The work is being carried out at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia, under the supervision of Dr. Manabu Ishitani. This Fellowship is made with the support of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. Read the news article.
Past Fellows
Dorin Gupta (2008)
Dorin Gupta of the CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University of India was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2008 to carry out a study entitled "Mining of Medicago truncatula EST-SSRs for use in genetic improvement of Lens". The work was carried out at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, under the supervision of Dr Paul Taylor. This Fellowship was made with the support of Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. Read the news article.
Enoch Gbenato Achigan Dako (2008)
Enoch Gbenato Achigan Dako of the Laboratory of Plant Science, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, of Benin was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2008 to carry out a study entitled "Analysis of the gene genealogies and population structure in Citrullus lanatus L. and its wild relative Citrullus colocynthis L. (Cucurbitaceae): Implication for genetic resources conservation". The work was carried out at the Institute of Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK, Gatersleben), Germany, under the supervision of Dr. Frank R. Blattner. This Fellowship was made with the support of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. Read the news article.
Mehraj Abbasov (2007)
Mehraj Abbasov of the Genetic Recourses Institute of National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2007 to carry out a study entitled "Eco-geographic distribution of salinity tolerance in diploid wheats". The work was carried out at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Plant Industry, Australia, under the supervision of Dr Rana Munns. This Fellowship was made with the support of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. Read the news article.
Adriana Arciniegas Leal (2007)
Ms Adriana Marcela Arciniegas Leal from Colombia, of the Biotechnology Laboratory of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2007 to carry out a study entitled "Agronomic and molecular characterization of selected cacao germplasm accession groups for efficient conservation and utilization".
The work was carried at CATIE, Costa Rica, under the supervision of Dr Wilbert Phillips-Mora and at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Plant Science Institute, Sustainable Perennial Crops Lab, USA, under the supervision of Dr Elizabeth Johnson. This Fellowship was made with the support of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Read the news article.
Achille Ephrem Assobadjo (2006)
Achille Ephrem Assobadjo of University of Abomey-Calavi, Republic of Benin was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2006 to carry out a study entitled "Developing conservation and domestication strategies for baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) in traditional agroforestry systems of West Africa". The work was done at the Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Biosciences Engineering, University of Ghent, Belgium, under the supervision of Prof Dr. Ir. Patrick Van Damme.
Read the news story.
Gideon Njau Mwai (2005)
Gideon Njau Mwai from Kenya carried out research on varieties of African Nightshade (Solanum) -- a popular, highly nutritious, yet scientifically neglected indigenous vegetable. His research has helped to promote use of the crop in Kenya, thereby contributing to local farmers incomes and well-being as well as enhancing its conservation.
Read the news story
Narayandas Laxminarayan Mantri (2005)
Narayandas Laxminarayan Mantri from India Mantri Mantri carried out research to help boost chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) production in India and Australia by developing a tool that will make it easy for breeders to screen varieties of chickpea for resistant traits
Read the news story
Tamar Jinjikhadze (2004)
Tamar Jinjikhadze from Georgia studied the molecular basis of resistance to rust diseases in Triticum timopheevii, a species of wheat endemic to Georgia.
Read the news story
Orou G. Gaoue (2004)
Orou Gaoue mapped the distribution of diversity and responses to exploitation in two species of African mahogany in his home country, Benin.
Read the news story
Parvin Salehi Shanjani (2003)
Dr Parvin Salehi Shanjani of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Iran carried out a study entitled "Analysis of genetic diversity and gene flow of Oriental Beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) populations as the basis for development of silvicultural and gene conservation strategy in Iran". The work was undertaken at the Plant Genetics Institute, National Research Council, Florence, Italy, under the supervision of Dr Giovanni G. Vendramin.
Read the news story
Ahu Altinkut Uncuoglu (2003)
Dr Ahu Altinkut Uncuoglu of the Tubitak Research Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (RIGEB), Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Turkey studied the genetic basis of drought resistance in wild relatives of wheat and barley, work that should help breeders to create varieties that can cope better with arid conditions.
Read the news story
Sunday Adesola Ajayi (2002)
Mr Sunday Adesola Ajayi of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria carried out a study entitled "Sexual Identification, Seed Handling and Cryostorage of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F.). The work was undertaken at the Plant Cell Biology Research Unit, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Natal, South Africa under the supervision of Professor Patricia Berjak.
Read the news story
Kirit K. Patel (2002)
Mr Kirit K. Patel of the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), India used his fellowship to carry out a study entitled 'Breaking the Nexus Between Poverty and Agrobiodiversity: Institutional and Policy Changes for Supporting Farmer-led Participatory Crop Improvement and Conservation'. The work was undertaken at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph, Canada, under the supervision of Professor Sally Humphries.
Abdou Salam Ouédraogo Fellows
Marius R.M. Ekué (2005)
Marius R.M. Ekué from Benin, an Agronomist Engineer in Forestry working at the Université d´Abomey-Calavi, used the award to study the genetic variability and sustainable use of Blighia sapida, better known as ackee, in Benin. Blighia sapida is a tree native to West Africa.
Read the news story
Abwao Stephen Indieka (2004)
Mr. Abwao Stephen Indieka, a Kenyan national working with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, used the fellowship to carry out a study on enhancing the conservation and utilization of Melia volkensii through the development of vegetative propagation protocols.
Read the news story
William Chrispo Hamisy (2002)
Mr Hamisy carried out a study on the "Promotion of effective conservation and sustainable utilization of Uapaca kirkiana in Tanzania". Uapaca kirkiana is one of the most important multipurpose trees of the miombo, the dominant ecological zone of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Read the news story
Forest Genetic Resources Fellowship
Dr. Madhav Pandey (2006)
Dr. Madhav Pandey from Nepal carried out a 2-year research fellowship at the Austrian Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape (BFW), in Vienna, Austria on "Investigation of genetic structure and reproductive biology of Shorea robusta in Nepal."
Pandey, M., Geburek, T. (2009) Brief Report. Successful cross-amplification of Shorea microsatellites reveals genetic variation in the tropical tree, Shorea robusta Gaertn. Hereditas 146: 29-32 (2009)
Jelena Aleksic (2005)
Jelena Aleksic from the Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro carried out her 2-year research fellowship at Austrian Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape (BFW), in Vienna, Austria on " EST-SSRs developed for other Picea species reveal high genetic variation 1 in Picea omorika".
International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAR) Fellows
Beloved Mensah Dzomeku (2007)
A Bioversity-sponsored scientist--Beloved Mensah Dzomeku of the Crops Research Institute in Ghana--has been awarded one of 13 professional development grants by IFAR, the International Fund for Agricultural Research, to examine the impact of efforts by Bioversity and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to introduce new technologies, mainly disease-resistant hybrids, as part of projects to improve the livelihoods of banana farmers.
Read the news story
Amer Ibrahim Basha (2006)
Amer Ibrahim Basha, a Syrian national has previously worked with Bioversity scientists on pistachio, a crop crucial to the culture, economy, and culinary traditions of Syria and other countries of the region. The grant enabled Ibrahim Basha to extend his studies to assess the amount and distribution of pistachio diversity in Syria and its centre of origin in central Asia using molecular tools.
Read the news story
Dr Xue-Jun Ge (2004)
Dr Xue-Jun Ge, of the South China Botanical Garden and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, studied the diversity of the wild banana Musa balbisiana using molecular techniques. His work has contributed to a deeper understanding of the banana genome and to the development of varieties with better resistance to pests and diseases.
Read the news story
Reuben Muasya (2004)
Reuben Muasya, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Moi University in Kenya, studied the impact of gene flow on the traditional maize varieties of smallholder farmers, who account for some 80 percent of production in Kenya. Genetically modified maize is being trialled in Kenya, and Dr Muasyas study has helped to document the diversity of landraces and the level of gene flow among them.
Read the news story
Geetha Rani (2004)
Geetha Rani is genebank manager at the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation in Tamil Nadu, India. Her award enabled her to characterize in greater detail the finger millet collection in the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) genebank. Finger millet is one of the orphan crops being revitalized as a healthier and more productive choice in marginal areas. Ranis research will enable the development of even more valuable varieties.
Read the news story
Helga Rodriguez von Platen (2004)
Helga Rodriguez von Platen worked on banana, developing molecular fingerprints to identify the hybrid bananas made by the Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA) in Honduras. Although the FHIA banana hybrids have been widely distributed, with great impact, their identity can sometimes be in doubt. Rodriguez says the award has benefited the entire banana research community worldwide, and thus the millions of smallholder farmers who depend on bananas.
Read the news story
Geoffrey M. Muluvi (2005)
Geoffrey M. Muluvi from Kenya contributed to efforts to safeguard a tree called Brachyleana huillensis, thereby also protecting the livelihoods of the many people who depend on it. Wood from the Brachyleana huillensis tree is the most popular in Kenya for making artifacts. Kenya's wood carving industry is lucrative, earning an export value of US$ 20 million a year and supporting an estimated 60, 000 woodcarvers with another 300, 000 dependants.
Read the news story
Claid Mujaju (2005)
Claid Mujaju from Zimbabwe focused on protecting forest species. Zimbabwe's forests were once rich reservoirs of fruit, wood, timber and forage. Local communities rely on these forests for their food and livelihoods but massive deforestation has led to the loss of much of this diversity. In collaboration with the Zimbabwean National Plant Genetic Resources Centre and the National Genebank of Zimbabwe, Claid worked to establish community forest gardens to enable and empower these communities to protect the biodiversity on which they depend.
Read the news story
Erlene Manohar (2005)
Erlene Manohar research built on the work being done by the Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) and Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) by helping to scale up and disseminate proven approaches to using coconut genetic diversity to create new products that villages can use to improve their livelihoods.
Read the news story
Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship
Damiana Astudillo (2005)
From 2005 to 2007, Damiana Astudillo worked on the Neglected and Underutilized Species initiative at Bioversity, which seeks to promote crops that are marginally produced and consumed but that have important income earning potential and nutritional value. She carried out her field work with Bioversity's partner, Fundación Promoción y Investigación de Productios Andinos (PROINPA), in Uyuni, Bolivia.
She conducted a research project on quinoa. Her main task was to assess the actual and potential nutritional contribution of quinoa and its diversity in the quinoa producing households. Damiana worked directly with about 300 quinoa farmers in 12 communities of the Southern Altiplano Region of Bolivia. Damiana used the data she collected with farmers to develop policy recommendations that that reconcile the cultural, nutritional and economic needs of the population.
Read the article she prepared on her work: The potential of small holder technology in quinoa producing communities of the Southern Bolivian Altiplano.(Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species feature article, May 2007)
Read the Bioversity press release and listen to the podcast: A simple machine to boost quinoa consumption and improve nutrition
(June 2007)
Borlaug LEAP Fellowship Programme
Quayson Enoch Thaddaeus (2007)
Enoch Thaddaeus Quayson of Ghana, is a food science graduate currently based at the Food Research Institute in Ghana. His PhD is on the effect of cooking methods on the micronutrient content of plantain (Musa spp.) to tease out the impact on the availability of carotenoids.
His results helped identify those cooking practices that are less likely to reduce micronutrient content. His research will also linked with the work done as part of a HarvestPlus-funded project coordinated by the banana and plantain team of Bioversity, which seeks to address micronutrient deficiencies in Sub-Saharan Africa through Musa-based foods.
Quayson did part of his work at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium under the supervision of Mark Davey and Rony Swennen, a Bioversity Honorary Research Fellow. Jim Giovannoni of Cornell University in the US will also supervised his work.
Margaret Onyango (2006)
Margaret Onyango of Kenya conducted her fellowship as part of her PhD thesis on the characterization of two groups of dessert bananas, Apple and Muraru. Sorting out the characteristics of each variety, as Onyango plans to do, helped the farmers to offer a more reliable product. “My long term goal”, Onyango says, “is to use the knowledge gained to train farmers and extension workers for improved production of these important bananas.”
She worked closely with Deborah Karamura of the Bioversity office in Uganda (the taxonomist who untangled the classification of a group of bananas indigenous to the highlands of East Africa, with benefits for farmers and scientists alike) and also used molecular tools under the supervision of Richard Manshardt at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.
JAPAN-CGIAR Fellowship Program
Takashi Fukushima
Mr Takashi Fukushima, from the University of Tokyo, conducted a research project entitled "Traditional Food Crop/Animal Diversity and Use Assessment in a Model Community, Kenya: Strengthen Bioversity's community-led research" to document and demonstrate the potential of traditional foods (edible insects, wild animals, mushrooms, indigenous vegetables, fruits and teas/spices) through ethnobotanical research approaches. This is a fundamental component of larger on-going Bioversity's community-led research activity aims to document traditional food crops, landrace diversity and associated livelihood activities including farm management systems, traditional knowledge, skills and uses among selected rural people in East Africa and to promote use of neglected traditional food crops through dissemination of documented materials and creation of awareness.