Dr. Pearl Abu, an alumna of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), has been awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The two-year highly competitive postdoctoral fellowship, funded under the DAAD Climate Research for Alumni and Postdocs in Afric (ClimapAfrica) programme, targets high-potential and motivated postdocs with research interest in various topics aimed at tackling climate change in Southern and Western Africa. The programme funds research projects and offers a platform for collaboration in thematic working groups composed of postdoctoral fellows and African alumni of German funding initiatives with expertise in the field of climate research.
Dr. Abu who completed her PhD Plant Breeding programme in 2020 will work under the WACCI Maize breeding programme on "Exploting the Genetic Diversity of Maize Landraces for Resilience to Climate Change: The Potential of Drought Tolerant Double Haploid (DH) Lines'. This research seeks to harness the untapped genetic diversity for drought tolerance available in West Africa landraces through double haploid line development. The DAAD postdoctoral fellowship together with support from WACCI would lead to the establishment of a functional DH facility at WACCI to enable rapid development of inbred lines.
Dr. Abu hopes to bring onboard her research skills and contribute to the WACCI research agenda through innovative and cutting-edge research to help achieve food and nutrition security in Africa. She looks forward to learning from the experienced plant breeders at WAACI to sharpen and acquire new skills in maize breeding.
WACCI congratulates Dr. Abu for winning this prestigious postdoctoral fellowship.