New member – welcome Collins!

Text and pics by Collins Agho

African childs struggles for survival: from an Ancient City in Nigeria to a doctoral student in one of Europe’s best-equipped science lab – Professor Ülo Niinemets found me!

I´m Collins Aimuaenvbosa Agho, a Nigerian, and I just started my PhD. here in Estonian University of Life Sciences – one of Europe’s best-equipped plant research labs. 16 years ago, the only thing I had was a dream. Though I had beautiful dreams, it was just wishful thinking because I had no resources to meet my heart´s desire. The success stories of others and my dedication to my local church kept me going. My advice to the African child is never to give up, keep dreaming and work hard to achieve it. Explore scholarships if you wish to study abroad before considering the deadly alternative en route to Europe.

My qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Botany from the University of Benin in Nigeria (top 4 students); Master’s Degree in Crop Science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (best graduating student in Plant Breeding and Genetics); Master’s Degree in Plant Biotechnology (Molecular Plant Breeding and Pathology Option),Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands (8.0 in both Major and Minor Thesis).
• I have worked as a Senior Research Scientist (Plant Breeder and Physiologist) for 8 years in a Federal Government Research Institute in my country, Nigeria. My focus was on yield improvement and breeding for stress tolerance in Oil Palm, Jojoba, Coconut Palm, and Date Palm. I have also worked with Poaceae family and Quinoa, focusing on variation in quantum use efficiency of C4 subtypes in the former and physiological response with respect to stress (salt) in the latter at Wageningen University and I also worked on biotic stress in barley. I have taught statistics and co-supervised students in Plant Breeding Thesis in some universities.

Before I graduated from Wageningen, I contacted Professor Ülo Niinemets for the possibility of a Ph.D., but there was no fund, though he told me he will keep me in mind. To my surprise, he kept his word and a few months later he asks me to put in my application and now I am here at the Estonian University of Life Science. The articles I read from Professor Ülo Niinemets group helped me a lot in building a solid foundation for my thesis at Wageningen University. For this reason, I wish to appeal to all concerned to keep funding Estonian Research! I must admit that the process was not easy, but thanks to Professor Ülo Niinemets, Pille Meinson, Lilian Ariva and others who made it possible. It is exciting to continue my research in Professor Ülo’s Lab in breeding for stress tolerance. Prof. Ülo is well known in Wageningen University and when my supervisors knew I was coming to this University, they gave it a pass mark. They said Ülo has a fantastic lab and excellent research group and he is well known in the field of Plant Science and I will receive very good training. Even the Brazillian Professor who came to Wageningen for short training knows Ülo.

During the next few years of my research, I will work with Dr. Eve Kaurilind and Professor Ülo Niinemets in a topic that combines Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology, Plant Physiology, and atmospheric science. These combinations are rare to find in most universities and will constitute my challenge for the next few years.