Keren Ngonyo Gachogu

BANUS STUDENT MENTORSHIP PROGRAM INTRODUCTION The mentorship program was hosted by BANUS (Biological Association of Nairobi University Students) a student-led university of Nairobi club whose main objectives include to help students “Explore the Myriad of Opportunities Available To Them". This being the aim of the program. The event took place on January 9th at Millenium hall at the University of Nairobi, Chiromo Campus, and officially commenced at 12:05 pm. The Moderator was Dr. Peter Njenga Nganga, one of the key note speakers present. There was a total of 32 students, 4 staff members of faculty, and 6 keynote guest speakers. Speakers Present Dr. Peter Njenga Nganga Ms. Lorine Nyangesa Dr. Mark Adero Mr. Duncan Kobia Dr. Aline Oelgelklaus Mr. Kevin Sambia Dr. Peter Njenga Nganga Dr. Peter Njenga Nganga was the first speaker of the day; a Postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular and Physiology, Dortmund Germany. With a degree in Science B.Sc. in Biology and a master’s in Genetics from The University of Nairobi, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Freiburg. The co-founder of Trek Science an organization set to improve health and agriculture. During his presentation, Dr. Njenga discussed his personal experience in acquiring scholarships for further services in which he mentioned he was a proud awardee of the DAAD scholarship for his Ph.D. program. His presentations circled around the importance of higher education beyond the undergraduate level and insisted that opportunities to do so are readily available to Students via the internet and/or Lecturers. A striking quote he mentioned was “opportunity favors the prepared mind” He briefly described his successes at the Max-Planck institute and owed most of his success to Dr. Amugune and the support of his peers both in school and in Germany. Ms. Lorine Nyangesa Ms. Lorine Nyangesa was the second speaker of the day, a Research executive at Delberg Research in Nairobi. A holder of a bachelor’s degree in Science BSc microbiology and biotechnology and a Masters in Genetics at the University of Nairobi and an ongoing doctorate student of Genetics. She briefly talked about her experience as an intern at ICIPE and gave tips on how to go about internship applications. Lorine was passionate about women and girls and their active role in the scientific field and gave a list of opportunities specifically scholarships aimed at furthering the girl scientist with the example of the Mawazo Learning Exchange Fellowship. Her main focus was to emphasize the importance of maintaining one’s pace in life regardless of peer and society expectations, by saying “We are all on different journeys, no matter where you start, it’s a good place to start. Dr. Mark Ade The third speaker of the day was Dr. Mark Adero, a Graduate Research Fellow and Research Associate at IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) and ILRI (International livestock research institute) Respectively. A holder of a bachelor’s degree in biology BSc in Plant Biotechnology and a master in Genetics, Plant biotechnology at the university of Nairobi. A current doctoral student at Kenyatta University Ph.D. in Biotechnology. Mark recounted the steps he took since being an undergrad student, which he presented and enhanced the importance of acquiring additional skills aside from the normal skills taught in a school setting. He continuously insisted on working together with lectures and owes his success to the contribution of Dr. Amugune who introduced him to plant tissue culture. He gave the following strategy for gaining skills and ensuring success Identity- research interests. Get- a mentor. Volunteer- spare time for experience. Network- training programs. Be- ready to enroll in a postgraduate degree Mr. Duncan Kobia Mr. Duncan Kobia was the fourth speaker of the day a Public Health Technical Manager at Vestergaard. A bachelor of science BSc in biology degree holder and master’s in medicine and veterinary entomology at the University of Nairobi. Ans a certificate holder from the University of Ghana in Implementation research on infectious Diseases of Poverty. He further encouraged the students to maintain strong and close relationships wit their lecturers, for he recalled his first job with Dr. Maina Githaiga as a Data Analyst and owes this to the fact that he taught himself programming with R language His main message was to encourage students to develop passion in what they do and I quote “you have already spent a portion of your life there, why let it go to waste”. Mr. Duncan said that this can be done by “building in your curiosities”. Mr. Kevin Sambai Fifthly, Mr. Kevin Sambai a graduate of the University of Nairobi, bachelor of science BSc biology and Masters of Science M.Sc. Agricultural Entomology. Currently a health Senior Inspector at KEPHIS ( Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service). He rallied behind the idea of Entrepreneurship and how a degree in science can open many doors towards self-sufficiency. He gave the example of the Yoghurt business where by a graduate student, with enough fundings can also begin to make, package and sell own branded yoghurt. Mr. Kevin also backed the idea of working with lecturers and noted how his time assisting in the school laboratory exposed him to enhanced knowledge in Locusts which enabled him to stand out during the locust crisis in Kenya a few years back. Dr. Aline Oelgelklaus The last key note speaker of the day was Dr. Aline, a preclinical research scientist at Medigene and a Immunology Scientist at Immatics. She recalled the outstanding work she did and published in the Oxford Academia, the P.E.D.S on the link between IgM CH2 domain and protein fusion with dual specificity, all while still pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Since then she has managed to publish two other publications all centered around autoimmunity. She got her PhD in Neuroimmunology at the Ludwig Maximillian’s University München in Munich Dr. Aline inspired students to not fear change when it comes to pursuing any science related career as she described er own experience of relocating from her home to study abroad. She advised on taking risks and big leaps and trusting and sticking to the process. She lso encouraged stepping out on ones comfort zone and being prepared to “give the best and nothing less” Discussion and Q&A Afterwards, a Q&A session was followed. The questions asked can be summarized into the following 1. How does one come up research ideas/ Ideas for forth year project 2. Where does one acquire funding from? 3. What skills are important to have? 4. How does one know or tell if they are ready to pursue further studies The questions were answered during a panel session. Which ended up with one of the students securing an opportunity with a guest speaker seeking to further her research in Bioengineering. The panel session was extremely successful and connected the panel to the audience and instilled courage and inspiration. They gave out many options of acquiring funding on all levels of education and encouraged self-development through being self-aware enough to know what you would like to pursue or do and calmed the students by assuring that they can always change their mind and that science is interrelated field, where all careers use knowledge from all over the field. There was served lunch by one of the schools frequently used catering services and it was a success too. BANUS leaders ensured the smooth running of equipment’s and the event as a whole and were thanked highly during the concluding vote of thanks. After the official conclusion of the session, students were also able to talk with the guest speakers before they had to leave later in the evening. Feedback was sourced by BANUS via online forms which showed the satisfactory rate of those who attended was high. It is to be noted however that the turn out was lower than expected since it was the first day of the school calendar year 2023, though this was done so to accommodate the key speakers who had to leave the following day for Germany. Conclusion In conclusion, the mentorship program was a success. Students’ minds expanded with newly sourced knowledge that evidently instilled courage and confidence in their chosen undergrad courses. The speakers posed as an inspiration and a assurance of a stable and secured futured in science and applied career paths. Acknowledgements: Present faculty staff members including Acting Dean, Department chair; Catherine Lukhoba, BANUS patron; Dr. Amugune. All who welcomed the speakers and spoke on behalf of the university. BANUS leaders, who organized and made the event not only possible but contributed to its success BANUS members who raised to the call and availed themselves to join the program.