Prof. Gitau (at right) receives a token of appreciation from Prof. Jothiprakash of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the Civil Engineering Association. Margaret Gitau, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University and President of MTAWA, gave an invited seminar at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, on October 3, 2018. Prof. Gitau talked about one of the greatest challenges in our world today, this being the impairment of water quality by pollutants from agricultural, rural/urbanizing, and urban lands. She discussed her perspectives, current research, and future directions, and also highlighted opportunities for integrated, multidisciplinary research to develop sustainable solutions to current water quality problems. |
Author: mtawainc
MTAWA-JKUAT Workshop a Great Success!
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Workshop Day 1 Participants |
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 Introductions by Prof. Helen Kutima |
Opening Remarks by Prof Stephen Diang’a |
 Keynote by Prof. Caroline Thoruwa |
 Remarks by Prof. Mary Abukutsa |
 Workshop Session by Prof. Clare Muhoro |
 Interactive Session Day 1 |
 Panel on Day 1 |
 Contributions by Ms. Redempter Mutinda |
 Insights from Panelist Agnes Limo |
 Remarks by Dr. Rose Mutiso |
 Presentation by Ms. Phyllis Kalele |
 Presentation by Ms. Rosetta Ngugi |
 Workshop Day 2 Participants |
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 One-on-One/Speed Mentoring |
 Mini Grad School Fair |
 Workshop Recap by Dr. Teckla Muhoro |
 Closing Remarks by Prof. Margaret Gitau |
Meet Our Mentees: Mercy Ngunjiri
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Mercy receives Graduate Teaching and Graduate Instructional Development certificates. (L-to-R): Prof. Bernie Tao; Mercy Ngunjiri; Provost Jay Akridge, Purdue University. Mercy Ngunjiri recently successfully defended her Ph.D. research work in the Agronomy department and Interdisciplinary Ecological Sciences and Engineering program at Purdue University. Her work was on “Mapping soils of the Uasin Gishu Plateau, Kenya with limited data using a knowledge-based inference mapping approach”. She was born and raised in Kenya and attained her B.S. degree in soil and land use management at Moi University and M.S. degree in soil science at the University of Eldoret. Her area of interest is soil and landscape processes as it pertains to multi-scale environmental and hydro-pedological processes. Mercy hopes to become an international research scientist in her area of study with the aim of enhancing global food security. She also hopes to be part of the practitioners and policy makers in areas of women empowerment especially in Africa. Mercy will graduate with a Ph.D. in soil science and agronomy this August. |
Dr. Clare Muhoro Receives Award for Public Service
Photo L-to-R (Chancellor Robert Caret, Dr. Clare Muhoro, Towson University President Kim Schatzel, Board of Regents Chair James Brady) Dr. Clare Muhoro (MTAWA Board member) was the recipient of the 2018 University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents’ Award for Public Service. The awards are the highest honor presented by the Board to exemplary faculty members. The awards honor excellence in the following four categories: teaching; research, scholarship and creative activity; public service; and mentoring. Institutional faculty nominating committees make recommendations to the institutional presidents, who review nominations and supporting material and forward recommendations to USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret. The Regents Faculty Review Committee makes the final recommendations. Dr. Muhoro received the award for her work on enhancing science and technology in developing countries. Dr. Muhoro works extensively with the United States Agency for International Development and has traveled to Africa and Asia in hands-on efforts to support U.S. programs and policies regarding scientific collaboration as a tool to promote development. She also served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow in diplomacy, security, and development. She has organized and/or moderated numerous programs and symposia around the world. She balances these public service obligations with a full-time teaching, research and administrative load within the Department of Chemistry at Towson University. Website link: https://www.usmd.edu/newsroom/news/1806 |
Meet Our Mentors: Dr. Betsy Gekonge
 Dr. Betsy Gekonge |
Dr. Betsy Gekonge was born and raised in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya in East Africa. She initially came to the United States to pursue a college education (Hamilton College, Clinton NY and Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA) and has since established a robust career working as a Clinical Scientist at Pfizer, Inc where she is contributing to the development of novel vaccines to help prevent pneumococcal disease. Prior to her current role, Betsy spent several years working in the Montaner Laboratory at the Wistar Institute working to understand the response of a subset of immune cells (monocytes/macrophages) to HIV-1 infection, and three years working in antiviral drug development at Merck & Co Inc. Betsy joined MTAWA in 2016 as a mentor, and with the support and guidance of MTAWA sistren established an incredible mentor-mentee relationship (now friendship) with her mentee who in the fall semester of 2017 successfully enrolled in the Department of Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Riverside. When not busy poring over clinical documents, Betsy enjoys volunteering to various causes, hiking and traveling with her children. |
MTAWA to Hold Panel Discussion and Graduate Career Workshop
The workshop will be held on July 24 and 25 at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja, Kenya.
Registration is now open. REGISTER NOW
Meet Our Mentors: Dr Nomali Ngobese
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Dr Nomali Ngobese is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Zululand, in South Africa. She is an Applied Plant Scientist with a specialization in Food Processing. She joined MTAWA in 2016, while still a Ph.D. student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and was mentored through the network. She graduated in April 2017 and, thereafter, did her first postdoctoral research at the South African Agricultural Research Council. As part of the Agricultural Research Council, Nomali worked towards sourcing and characterizing starch from the seeds of wild mango (a non-conventional source). Her current research focuses on the incorporation of African leafy vegetables on flour-based staple foods, to improve their nutritional value, for the alleviation of malnutrition challenges in Africa. |
