Dr Ajangale Nelly Isyagi-Levine was born 42 years ago in Malawi, but started pre-school in Uganda.

The family was forced to move to Kenya during Amin’s reign in the 1970s.

She went to primary school in Nairobi then Eldoret, moved to Zambia for secondary education then back to Uganda.

This movement from country to country as a young child, Dr Isyagi said, had a positive impact on her.

“Having lived as a foreigner and a minority person, I learned to accept people as they were. We were a close-knit family, so I always felt secure wherever we went,” Dr Isyagi said.

Her father was an enthusiastic veterinary surgeon who showed his children the application of science in their daily life.

“My father would take us with him to farms and then show us films at home on animal diseases, something we enjoyed as children.

"When he worked at the Veterinary Research Station in Zambia, we would occasionally go to the laboratories to see what he was doing and enjoyed the family evening walks to check on the bulls in the artificial insemination unit.

"Science was not just a subject but information that could be used to create, build and transform lives,” said Dr Isyagi.

Little wonder then, that when she finished high school, she enrolled for a degree in veterinary medicine at Makerere University in Uganda.

She worked briefly at the Bank of Uganda then managed a poultry farm before embarking on a masters degree in aquaculture at Wageningen Agricultural University in Holland. Her dissertation was on fish health.

She returned to Uganda and joined the National Agricultural Research Organisation, where she worked as a research officer at the current Aquaculture Research and Development Centre, Kajjansi for about 10 years.

During this time, Dr Isyagi undertook a PhD in aquaculture from the University of Stirling, Scotland.

Her PhD focused on designing production systems through which farmers could rear the indigenous African catfish in an economically viable and environmentally sustainable way using locally available resources.

The study was sponsored by the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project whose objective was to develop measures to reduce fishing pressure in Lake Victoria and rebuild stocks of endangered indigenous fish species.

In 2005, she joined a USAid project — Fisheries Investment for Sustainable Harvest — as the pond and hatchery specialist.

The objectives of the project were to jumpstart commercial aquaculture by developing appropriate systems in Uganda.

Through field trials, the team designed various fish farming options and passed the information to farmers.

After the project, Nelly and her colleagues opted for self-employment and set up Aquaculture Management Consultants in 2009.

The company designs and sets up fish farming systems for farmers, as well as providing aquaculture technical services.

Dr Isyagi does not fit the mainstream description of research scientists, who are typically employed in research institutes, companies or universities.

“Often, in these institutions, one is restricted to a specific subject area and depending on the programmes running, you have no option but to persist with it, whether it is applicable or not, for the duration of the project and then write about it.

"Your performance is determined by the number of scientific publications. There is not much room for creativity and I did not feel motivated. In the private sector, on the other hand, one is challenged to apply all their skills and keep improving upon them.

"The dynamics of the environment imply that one must deliver results in response to prevailing challenges, which implies that one must be creative, think and deliver on the move. Thus I have broadened my knowledge and refined my skills," Dr Isyagi said.

She believes that research is necessary. According to her PhD thesis findings, most institutions take farmers as wholesome consumers of ideas, yet in most cases they are adapters.

Hence, working with farmers through the company allows her to provide technical support over a long period to the farmer on a one-to-one basis at the site, which most farmers find more useful than 1-2 day in-house training sessions.

“The flexible working hours mean I can fit my schedule around my younger children who are six, four and two old,” said Nelly.

To achieve this, however, her team has to be strong and self-motivated, able to work without close supervision. “It would have otherwise been difficult to balance work and family,” Dr Isyagi said.

Seeing her clients succeed gives her a great sense of fulfillment and she considers herself lucky.

“It is not often that people who do their PhD’s end up doing what they really want to do or what they consider to be most useful,” Dr Isyagi said.