Kevin Njabo: How we can stop Africa's scientific brain drain
Kevin Njabo: Cómo detener la fuga de cerebros de África
Kevin Njabo is coordinating the development of UCLA's newly established Congo Basin Institute (CBI) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Full bio
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about sustainable development
por el desarrollo sostenible
and rich biodiversity,
y una rica biodiversidad,
environmental destruction, and poverty.
destrucción ambiental y pobreza.
in sub-Saharan Africa today,
los niños en el África subsahariana hoy,
die from malaria every year,
más de un millón de personas al año,
menores de cinco años,
in sub-Saharan Africa.
en el África subsahariana.
educational opportunities.
oportunidades educativas.
just one university in Cameroon,
una universidad en Camerún,
offered some opportunities
ofrecía algunas oportunidades
to be trained in various fields.
para ser entrenados en varias áreas.
as an ecologist in Nigeria,
to Boston University for my PhD.
en la Universidad de Boston.
in Africa as a continent,
en África como continente,
from the West for short stays,
que vienen por estancias cortas,
and brightest out of Africa,
y más brillante de África,
in perpetual need of handouts.
en perpetua necesidad de limosna.
en la Universidad de Boston,
and Sustainability
Medioambiente y Sostenibilidad
for groundbreaking research
of policies and programs
of millions of people the world over,
de personas en el mundo,
that returns home,
que vuelve a casa,
in the formal and informal sectors.
la economía formal e informal del sector.
to build a sustainable Africa together,
construir juntos una África sostenible,
to develop the Congo Basin Institute,
el Instituto de la Cuenca del Congo,
with international researchers,
con investigadores internacionales,
to their own problems.
propias a sus propios problemas.
approach to show how universities,
para mostrar cómo las universidades,
de desarrollo internacional.
from the West for short stays,
occidentales por estancias cortas,
presence in Africa,
permanente en África,
para logística, vivienda
and international researchers.
e internacionales.
estudiantes como Michel
training in Africa.
de alta calidad en África.
en nuestros laboratorios investigando
of climate change on insects, for his PhD,
en los insectos para su doctorado,
his post-doctorate fellowship
to stay on the continent.
en el continente.
programa de ayuda local,
a young Nigerian scientist,
un joven científico nigeriano,
for Professional Development
el Desarrollo Profesional
in South Africa
en Sudáfrica
at the same time,
al mismo tiempo,
of climate variability and change
variabilidad y el cambio del clima
de la malaria en África.
developing models
desarrolla modelos
as an early warning system
de alerta temprana
de la malaria en África.
our best and brightest out of Africa,
lo mejor y más brillante de África,
local talent in Africa.
el talento local en África.
asegurar las subvenciones necesarias,
but couldn't secure the necessary grants,
the science he knew he could.
que él sabía que podía.
of returning to the US.
to start collaborating
has over half a dozen collaborative grants
media docena de fondos de colaboración
nine of them women,
nueve de ellas mujeres,
que hay bajo el cambio climático,
under climate change,
of Africa taking handouts,
de una África que recibe limosnas,
interdisciplinary approach
to find their own solutions.
a que encuentren sus propias soluciones.
with local communities and students,
con comunidades locales y estudiantes,
para encontrar una manera
the iconic African hardwood.
la icónica madera dura africana.
are exploited for timber,
dura africana, es explotado,
about their ecology,
80 to 200 years.
de 80 a 200 años.
que trabaja en nuestros laboratorios,
some cutting-edge tissue culture work.
de cultivo de tejidos de vanguardia.
entirely from tissues.
producido en su totalidad por tejidos.
se puede producir madera africana
produce African timber
tejidos vegetales...
them from seeds,
the varieties of ebony
las variedades de ébano
en nuestro laboratorio,
producir árboles jóvenes,
to co-produce ebony
para coproducir ébano
in their various farms
en sus varias granjas
de granja de árboles,
los agricultores
they want in their farms.
que quieren en sus granjas.
las especies que ellos elijan
choose themselves
using our modern techniques
de uso de la tierra,
their land-use systems,
from these products
de estos productos
15,000 ebony trees in Cameroon,
15 000 árboles de ébano en Camerún
from the middle of a pristine forest.
el medio de un bosque prístino.
maderas duras africanas,
for our African hardwoods,
to include sapele and bubinga,
para incluir el sapele y la bubinga,
when I was 18,
cuando yo tenía 18 años,
el Instituto de la Cuenca del Congo,
by the Congo Basin Institute,
universities in the world,
universidades del mundo,
powerful and empowering approach.
enfoque local, potente y empoderador.
universities and NGOs as partners.
de universidades y ONGs como socios.
on our existing laboratory space
de laboratorio existente
e instalaciones para conferencias
and conference facilities
disciplinary approach.
multidisciplinario a largo plazo.
to young African scholars,
a jóvenes académicos africanos,
of Tropical Agriculture's existing network
Internacional de Agricultura Tropical
across sub-Saharan Africa.
en el África subsahariana.
de mayor crecimiento
for private-sector investment.
para la inversión del sector privado.
to African scholars,
a los eruditos africanos,
will stay on this continent
se queden en este continente
like the Congo Basin Institute,
el Instituto de la Cuenca del Congo,
to solving Africa's problems.
los problemas de África.
alguien dé una charla TED
someone will be giving a TED Talk
of Westerners leaving your homes
de occidentales que dejan sus hogares
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kevin Njabo - Conservation biologistKevin Njabo is coordinating the development of UCLA's newly established Congo Basin Institute (CBI) in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Why you should listen
Dr. Kevin Yana Njabo is the Associate Director and the Africa Director for the Center for Tropical Research (CTR), a part of the University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He also holds a joint Assistant Professor appointment at both Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. He is responsible for supervising CTR’s research teams in Africa and coordinating the development of UCLA’s newly established Congo Basin Institute (CBI) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Dr. Njabo also serves as a Visiting Professor at the National University of Rwanda and the Higher Institute of Environmental Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
His research interests are examining the link between biodiversity and human health where he attempts to address the underlying causes of this emergence and how they relate to changes in biodiversity. His area of research focuses on Africa as a platform for case studies of these relationships with the hope that this work will help develop new interdisciplinary tools and methods to forecast and mitigate risks to biodiversity and health, creating sound strategies to enhance the societal benefits of conserving biodiversity. He serves on several professional bodies including the Board of Governors and Global Vice President of the Society for Conservation Biology; Council Member of the Pan African Ornithological Congress Committee and member of the editorial board for Austin Environmental Sciences, a newly initiated peer-reviewed open access journal with an aim to develop a platform for innovative researchers working in the areas of Environmental Sciences.
Kevin Njabo | Speaker | TED.com