FUTA Appoints Professor Ifeoluwa Balogun Director of WASCAL Centre

Professor Ifeoluwa Adebowale Balogun has been appointed Director of the West Africa Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA).

Jun 27, 2024 - 14:26

FUTA Appoints Professor Ifeoluwa Balogun Director of WASCAL Centre

The West Africa Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) has appointed Professor Ifeoluwa Adebowale Balogun as its new Director. This announcement was made by the University's Registrar, Mr. Charles Adeleye, following approval from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji.

Professor Balogun, an esteemed Professor of Urban Climatology, Biometeorology, and Climate Change, will oversee the daily operations of the Centre. His responsibilities include managing the German Government-Sponsored Graduate Research Programme in WASCAL and establishing operational guidelines for the Centre’s administration over the next two years.

Professor Balogun brings extensive experience to this role. He previously served as Associate Director (Remote Sensing and GIS) at FUTA's Centre for Space Research and Applications (CESRA) from January 2013 to January 2018 and as Deputy Director of the Doctoral Research Program in West African Climate Systems (DRP-WACS) at WASCAL from April 2020 to June 2024.

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Balogun is a distinguished member of several professional bodies, including the Nigerian Meteorological Society (NMetS), the International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC), and the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB). His dedication to climate science has earned him numerous awards, such as the Lowry Award for Best African Graduate Student Presentations at ICUC-7 in Yokohama, Japan (2009) and the IAUC/American Meteorological Society (AMS) Lowry Award in University College Dublin, Ireland (2012). Recently, he received the Fellowship of the Occupational Safety Society of Nigeria and the James Kweku Eshun Mentoring Award from YouthMappers International and USAID GEOCENTER in March 2024.

WASCAL is a German Government-funded capacity-building program aimed at addressing climate change. FUTA was designated as the Lead University for the Graduate Research Program (GRP) in the West African Climate System (WACS) on August 10, 2010. This program focuses on training Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) students in various aspects of the West African Climate System.