Dr. Ekemini Edet Obok

MBBS (Sydney), FRACS (Paediatric Surgery)

Ekemini is a lecturer and researcher with backgrounds in plant breeding and genetics with an interest in plant pathology and molecular biology. He was the maiden recipient of a First Class Honours in Crop Science since the inception of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Calabar, Calabar. He was employed as a Graduate Assistant in 2010 after the completion of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) assignment. He later benefitted from the University’s Staff Development Scheme for a Master’s degree in Agronomy (Plant Breeding) at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Ekemini also won the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship (DFID-funded) for a PhD in Agriculture at the University of Reading, United Kingdom where he worked with groups of experienced plant scientists at the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development for three years, from 2012 to 2015. His PhD study was directed at providing molecular-based information on the present status of Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) and its vectors in cacao-growing areas in Nigeria. During this period, he received training on GPS-mapping, PCR and qPCR-based CSSV detection and screening, DNA Barcoding of CSSV vectors and the first to use the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique to monitor the feeding behaviour of CSSV vector mealybugs on cacao. He was later appointed as a Postdoctoral Research Associate by the University of Reading to further study the mechanism of CSSV transmission between cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and alternative host tree species (mostly Malvaceae Juss.) by mealybug vector species in the quest for breeding for resistance to CSSV in cacao in West Africa. He has made presentations of his research findings at international and national scientific meetings and conferences in the United States of America, Germany and the United Kingdom. He is presently a Lecturer I and the Departmental Coordinator for the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)..