Kansas Ag Connection - K-State Ag Honors Distinguished Ethiopian Scientist

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K-State Ag Honors Distinguished Ethiopian Scientist
Kansas Ag Connection - 04/18/2019

Segenet Kelemu would be the first to tell you that her humble upbringing from a poor Ethiopian village to one of Africa's most distinguished scientists has not been an easy path.

"I'm a woman working in what has been predominantly a man's profession, and I'm a woman of color," Kelemu told students in a Kansas State University genetics class recently.

Early in her career, one international organization she worked for passed a rule that to rise to a director's role, a person had to be at least six feet tall.

"Well, that was three strikes against me," Kelemu said. "I was out."

It didn't hamper the ambition of the young Kelemu, who graduated from K-State in 1989 with a doctorate in plant pathology and recently was named the 2019 Alumni Fellow by the university's College of Agriculture.

The Alumni Fellow is a program of the K-State Alumni Association in collaboration with each of the seven colleges at K-State. It is intended to recognize outstanding graduates from each college.

"I come from a very poor agricultural village in Ethiopia where farmers struggle daily to control pests, control disease and simply to make a living from agriculture," Kelemu said. "My intention from the time I graduated from college was to apply my knowledge in science to make a difference in these farmer's lives."

Kelemu is currently the director general and chief executive officer of the Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya. She is the first woman to hold that position.

"This organization was established 50 years ago by Kenyan scientists and has grown from a national program to international status," she said. "This is the only center that works on insects and the diseases they transmit to crops, animals, humans and the environment in general. It plays a critical role in the continent of Africa."

Under Kelemu's guidance, the center has solved numerous challenges unique to agriculture on her continent, such as the devastation caused by the African tsetse fly, which is known to transmit disease in cattle.

In the late 1800s, the tsetse fly nearly eradicated the entire cattle industry in Africa. While the damage caused by the biting fly is not quite to that extent today, it's still a major pest that greatly affects the African cattle industry.

Kelemu's research team discovered a compound found in wildlife that repels the tsetse fly, then developed a collar with the compound that cattle can wear. When the fly moves in for a bite, it senses a wild creature and is scared away.

The center has also developed a number of bio-pesticides that are effective against a wide range of crops, and on ticks in cattle. They are developing new ways to control malaria, which still claims one African child every eight seconds.

Kelemu said her group also is working on a project to understand why African bees are resistant to pests and diseases, in hopes of rebuilding colonies of bees in Europe and North America.

"The products we generate and the technologies we develop are being used globally," she said.

Kelemu's list of honors and achievements stretches nearly two decades, including being honored in 2014 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as one of five Heroes in the Field.

"I have been really fortunate, but I am one individual," Kelemu said. "A lot of my team members in all of the jobs I've had have contributed to our success, including my graduate students, staff and partners.

"I have been really fortunate to have a global network. There is a saying in Africa that it takes a village to raise a child, but I think it takes a global village to make a scientist successful as well."

Kelemu said that some of the tough lessons she learned early in her career were important to the success she had later on. And she hopes that students hear that message.

"I think it's important that students know that they should not to be rattled by any challenge they will face," she said. "I know some people who were too rattled, and they would say science is too challenging for me, and they quit. But determination is really important and realizing that life is not always smooth sailing, no matter what profession you choose. Students need to think, 'this too will pass; I am going to tackle it and move past this.'"

She added that keeping an eye on their original reasons for getting into agriculture and science -- namely, helping people -- can help students stay determined.

"This is a good overall profession these students have chosen," Kelemu said. "It is a fantastic honor to do the things you love, but also in the medium and long term you can also translate that to impact on society."

While at K-State, Kelemu met with campus leaders and spoke to several classes. In one class, Population Genetics, she was introduced by K-State graduate research assistant Immaculate Wanjuki, a native of Kenya.

"She inspires me greatly, especially being an African woman venturing in science, which is viewed as a male-dominated career in Kenya," Wanjuki said.

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