Prof Baldwyn Torto, an Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria (UP), was recently inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) as an International Fellow.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research and dedicated to using science and technology for the public welfare. In addition to its role as adviser to the US federal government, the Academy sponsors symposia, monitors human rights abuses against scientists worldwide, promotes the public understanding of science, and publishes a research journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Fellows are elected to NAS based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. “In my case, it was for discoveries in chemical ecology which opened new avenues for vector control and monitoring crop pests and other insects,” he said.

“Science is about teamwork, and it includes my extraordinary mentors over years of formal education and as an early career scientist, administrators of research that provided the enabling environment to allow different teams I participated in or led to excel in the field of chemical ecology, especially at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and UP, and of course my supporting and wonderful family and friends,” Prof Torto explained.

“Both icipe and UP are internationally recognised as leading African scientific research and capacity-building institutions. Their highly successful international capacity-building programmes allowed me to work with some of the best students from various African countries and with some of the most brilliant minds as collaborators and technical staff across different disciplines, including vectors of infectious diseases of public and veterinary health importance, crop pests, and beneficial insects.”

He added,” One of my PhD students Yusuf Abdullahi, from Nigeria, who was the first to graduate from UP and an alumnus of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral program, is now an Associate Professor at UP’s Department of Zoology and Entomology. Likewise, David Tchouassi, from Cameroon, the first medical entomologist in my team to graduate at UP, is now a Senior Scientist at icipe, and recipient of a prestigious Wellcome Trust International Intermediate Fellowship. Other UP graduates, including Vincent Nyasembe from Kenya, is a Research Scientist at the CDC Foundation, Atlanta, US, and Akua Antwi-Agyakwa from Ghana, who worked on crop pests for her PhD thesis, is currently a scientist at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) and a recent recipient of a TWAS Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigator (SG-NAPI). These few examples are a testament to UP’s commitment to academic excellence and quality research outputs.  As a leading institution of higher education in Africa, the icipe-UP joint PhD training program has produced, over the years, several globally competitive next-generation scientists. As an extraordinary professor at UP, I am incredibly proud to be part of this research output. I have learned a lot from students and colleagues over the years, for which I am extremely grateful,” Prof Torto explained.

Prof Torto’s journey in scientific research spans over 35 years, after graduating from a sandwich programme between icipe and African Universities called the African Regional Postgraduate Programme in Insect Sciences (ARPPIS).

“I was in the third cohort of PhD students recruited in 1985 and the first to be trained in chemical ecology, graduating from the University of Ghana in 1988. The German Academic Exchange Service sponsored my PhD study. This year marks 41 years of the ARPPIS programme, and over the years, it has attracted more African universities, such as UP. As the first ARPPIS graduate and Ghanaian to be inducted as an international member into the US National Academy of Sciences, I feel honoured because it is a recognition of my team’s outstanding contributions to the global scientific community and a testament to the vision of the founding members of the ARPPIS programme. What an incredible vision by the founding members of ARPPIS, led by the icipe founding Director, the late Professor Thomas R. Odhiambo!”