Dr. Alex Awiti is a consultant at the CIFOR-ICRAF (Center for International Forest Research – World Agroforestry). He was Vice Provost and professor at Aga Khan University. He also served as Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communication and Founding Director of the East Africa Institute of Aga Khan University. Before joining Aga Khan University, Awiti was a postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the City of New York. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Awiti began his research, academic, and policy career over 25 years ago at the World Agroforestry Centre, where he and his colleagues pioneered novel approaches for diagnostic surveillance of land health problems. His research intersects agriculture, ecology, conservation, education, society, population health policy, and the economy. As a public intellectual, he has written over 750 opinion articles published in leading Kenyan newspapers and international publications, including the International Policy Digest and The Conversation. He is a regular commentator on public policy issues on major local and international news networks. Awiti is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC, Canada. He is a Governor of the Board of Governors of the IDRC (International Development Research Centre). He is a member of the Biodiversity Advisory Panel for the Kenya Joint Venture comprising Africa Oil and Maersk, which is carrying out oil and gas exploration and appraisal activities in Northwestern Kenya. He is also a review editor on the editorial board of Climate Ecology and People for the Frontiers Journal. He holds a PhD in Ecosystem Ecology.