Advertisement

DR FLORA ISMAIL TIBAZARWA: Local solutions to crop pests, diseases

Saturday March 31 2012

Dr Flora Ismail Tibazarwa’s father was a manager in an automobile company, and this shaped her appreciation of the sciences.

“A physicist by training, he believed that science was the base of many professions as it encouraged logical thinking. So when I was choosing my O level subjects at Kibosho Girls Secondary school, he persuaded me to pick sciences,” Dr Tibazarwa said.

After A levels at Weru Weru Girls High School, she embarked on a Bachelor of Science at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, which she completed in 1992.

She proceeded to do a master’s degree specialising in coastal forest ecology which she finalised in 1997 before working for a year as an environmental scientist with Norconsult Ltd.

Dr Tibazarwa then left Tanzania to pursue her PhD at the Raboud University, Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Her research focused on the factors that enable mangroves to develop without forming dormant seeds like maize or beans do.

Advertisement

“My PhD supervisor Dr Celestine Mariani was an important force in my studies. She allowed me to travel with my daughter, which gave me the peace of mind to focus on my work. She went to great lengths to ensure that I finished the PhD and made my contribution to science,” Dr Tibazarwa said.

She completed her PhD in 2005 and returned to the University of Dar es Salaam to continue her work in botany.

The 43-year old mother of three daughters and a son, is now a lecturer and head of the Department of Botany at the College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

Dr Tibazarwa’s work explores how different plants can tolerate adverse conditions.

Her research focuses on tolerance of tomatoes, cotton and sea grasses to pests and diseases as well as environmental stresses like heat, drought and salinity.

“Crop production in Tanzania is low and climate change is increasing the risk to food security, so finding appropriate local solutions is my goal,” said Dr Tibazarwa.

Advertisement