Principal Investigator and Director
Leena Tripathi is a Principal Investigator and Director at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) located in Kenya. Along with these duties, she is equipped with being the Country Representative for this non-profit organization that strives to achieve nutrition and food security in order to alleviate Africa’s challenges with food. Another one of the IITA’s goals is to provide solutions to the small world of farmers in Africa who do not have much food capacity due to deleterious diseases and pests devastating staple food crops. A typical day for Dr. Tripathi is comprised of 80% research and 20% administrative work. She begins her day by responding to emails, strategy planning for research, and discussing any technical challenges/progress with her staff comprised of students and PostDocs.
Dr. Tripathi has worked at the IITA for over 19 years; however, she was not always at the position she is at today. Initially, she joined as a PostDoc and eventually transitioned into becoming a PI for the lab. Before working at the IITA, she was finishing up her Postdoctoral at University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG) with a specialization in genetic engineering of legumes. While she was here, Dr. Tripathi was informed about the scarcity of Ph.D.’s in plant biotechnology in Africa, where food capacity and food security were lacking. After completing her Postdoctoral studies at UNCG, Dr. Tripathi moved to Africa and began working to develop new plant biotechnology in order to control major crop diseases for foods like banana, cassava, and yam.
Although the IITA is based in Kenya, Dr. Tripathi’s work enables her to travel to new places where she presents her work to other scientists around the world. Her favorite part of her job is the actual research and getting involved in it-- we could sense her enthusiasm and love for what she does when asked this question. The work-life balance can be challenging at times as a highly ambitious mother of 2 children, but Dr. Tripathi is able to juggle everything from her many roles in the lab to her duty as a mother.
Authors: Vivian Nguyen and Hailey Levi
Dr. Tripathi has worked at the IITA for over 19 years; however, she was not always at the position she is at today. Initially, she joined as a PostDoc and eventually transitioned into becoming a PI for the lab. Before working at the IITA, she was finishing up her Postdoctoral at University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG) with a specialization in genetic engineering of legumes. While she was here, Dr. Tripathi was informed about the scarcity of Ph.D.’s in plant biotechnology in Africa, where food capacity and food security were lacking. After completing her Postdoctoral studies at UNCG, Dr. Tripathi moved to Africa and began working to develop new plant biotechnology in order to control major crop diseases for foods like banana, cassava, and yam.
Although the IITA is based in Kenya, Dr. Tripathi’s work enables her to travel to new places where she presents her work to other scientists around the world. Her favorite part of her job is the actual research and getting involved in it-- we could sense her enthusiasm and love for what she does when asked this question. The work-life balance can be challenging at times as a highly ambitious mother of 2 children, but Dr. Tripathi is able to juggle everything from her many roles in the lab to her duty as a mother.
Authors: Vivian Nguyen and Hailey Levi