Prof. Labode Popoola
Labode POPOOLA, a Professor of Forest Economics and Sustainable Development at the University of Ibadan holds a 1990 PhD in Forest Economics from the University of Ibadan. He commenced his academic career as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Ibadan in 1988 and in 1992 he was appointed Lecturer II, a position he occupied until 1994 when he was promoted to the grade of Lecturer I. In 1997, he became a Senior Lecturer. His academic career was finally capped with a Professorship in Forest Economics on 01 October, 2002, ten years after his first academic appointment.
He has won several awards and honours. They include an award for Invaluable Service in
Agroforestry from the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, Nairobi (2001); award for excellent service to the forestry profession by the Council of the Forestry Association of Nigeria. He also received the Osun State Government Merit Award for Excellence in Science, Research and Community Development in 2010, and an Award of Excellence by Osun State Government in 2018 for making Osun State University financially self-sustaining. Prof. Popoola has successfully supervised 28 PhD theses, while three others are on-going. Sixteen of his PhD mentees are already Professors within and outside Nigeria. He has also supervised one MPhil, 55M.Sc dissertations as well as 40 B.Sc student projects. He has edited and/or co-edited over 20 publications. His research activities have generated over 170 publications (including a patent), over 70 percent of which were published after his promotion to the rank of Professor in 2002. Also, a 19- chapter book on “Readings in Tropical Sustainable Forest Management” has been published in his honour by his PhD mentees.
A specialist in Resource Economics and Sustainable Development, his main areas of competences include: Natural Resource Economics and Management; Sustainable Development, Capacity Building, Institutional and programme management, Networking, Institutional linkages/positioning, Research extension, Communication and Organization, Bio-diversification of landscapes and Administration. He has served as consultant to FAO, AfDB, the World Bank, DFID, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, ICRAF, IBRD, AFORNET, NCF, African Forest Forum and several other national and international organizations. In the course of his diverse professional services, he has visited some 120 countries and all the continents across the globe.
Thursday 5th October
Keynote Address 2
"Towards achieving a Climate-Resilient Cities”