Paul Akpejeluh grew up in Benin City, Edo State, a town with about 1.5 million people in the Southern part of Nigeria. He had his undergraduate degree in neighboring Delta State. Having lived in several States in Nigeria before moving to Lincoln for graduate studies, he relishes the striking differences between Nigeria’s climate and the United States’, adding that the social and economic outlook of both countries are poles apart. These and more are the reasons he finds UNL interesting. Read all about it in this interview.
What are you studying, what’s your research about, and how far have you gone?
I’m a master’s student at the School of Natural Resources, UNL, and my specialization is Applied Ecology. I’m currently in my final phase of data collection and thesis writing. My research looks at bomas in Northern Kenya, which are basically abandoned pastoralist settlements made from acacia cut trees for corralling livestock. When the pastoralists relocate or abandon the bomas for greener pastures or in search of water, these bomas leave ecological imprints over time which have impacts on vegetation species, diversity, and richness in the landscape.
So, basically my research uses remotely-sensed (both satellite and UAV), and field data to explore the relationships among grazing livestock, vegetation changes, and climate (precipitation) at multiple spatial (boma, landscape and regional), and temporal (monthly, seasonal and interannual) scales.
Read more of Paul's Story here.