Name: Phyllis Wambui Muturi
Title/Qualification: Dr.
Position: Senior Lecturer/Deputy Dean of Students
Department: Water & Agricultural Resources Management
School: Agriculture
Area of Specialization: Plant Breeding & Biotechnology
Contact Address: P.O. BOX 6-60100 Embu
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Google Scholar Account - Link
Short Biography
Dr. Muturi holds a PhD in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MSc. in Crop Protection and BSc. Agriculture. She won scholarships for postgraduate training (MSc and PhD) from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). She has contributed to food security through and promotion of nutritious indigenous climate smart legumes and cereals. Dr. Muturi has been a Young Affiliate with The World Academy of Sciences (2020-2025). She’s been a member of National Technical committees for example Biotechnology Technical Committee (2020-2022). In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship at Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) to study Bambara groundnut. In 2021, she was awarded Early Career Fellowship with Organization for Women in Science for Developing World (OWSD) to study sustainable management of Fall Armyworm. In 2019, Dr. Muturi was awarded a visiting scholarship at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala Department of Ecology. In 2015, she was awarded a visiting scholarship by Dupont Pioneer and hosted by Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy. She has shown academic leadership by leading research projects seeking to improve food security. She has supervised PhD, MSc and BSc. students in areas of food security. She has more than six years of teaching/research experience. She is the Students’ Academic Advisor for Plant Breeding/Biotechnology/Crop Protection programs at the University of Embu. In 2012, she was recognized by the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development Programme (AWARD) to be among the 70 impressively talented and motivated young women researchers in Africa and she was awarded a two year fellowship. Dr. Muturi was a Carneigie Fellow in 2013. Dr. Muturi has worked with rural communities and has presented research findings in conferences and published her work in international peer-reviewed journals. She is a mentor and participates in community development projects/programmes.
Research Interests
Agricultural Biotechnology, Crop Improvement, Crop Protection, Participatory Approaches, Dryland Agriculture, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Crops and Sustainable Seed Systems.