Name: Phyllis Wambui Muturi
Title/Qualification: Dr.
Position: Senior Lecturer/Deputy Dean of Students
Department: Water & Agricultural Resource 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 promotion of climate smart methods of managing agricultural insect pests, and also promotion of nutritious indigenous climate smart legumes and cereals. She has received professional recognition as well as non-research awards. Dr. Muturi has been a Young Affiliate with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) (2020-2025). She has been an external examiner for research thesis in several Universities in East African Region, and she is also an active peer reviewer of several journals. She’s been a member of National Technical Committees for example, Biotechnology Technical Committee (2020-2022). She has shown academic leadership by leading several research projects seeking to end hunger. 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 semi-arid lands for improved food, nutritional and income security. In 2019, Dr. Muturi was awarded a visiting scholarship at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Department of Ecology. In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship at Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) to investigate on a climate smart indigenous and forgotten crop namely Bambara groundnut. In 2015, she was awarded a visiting scholarship by Dupont Pioneer and hosted by Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy. She has supervised PhD, MSc and BSc. students in areas of food security and food safety. She is Students’ Academic Advisor for Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Crop Protection, and Agricultural Resource Management Programs at the University of Embu. Dr. Muturi was a Carnegie Fellow in 2013. In 2012, she was recognized by African Women in Agricultural Research and Development Programme (AWARD) to be among the impressively talented and motivated young women researchers in Africa, and was awarded a two-year Fellowship. She has presented research findings in conference 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.
Grants
| S/No | Title of the Grant | Funding Agency | Amount | Start Date (Month and Year) | End Date (Month and Year) |
| 1 | Enhancing community resilience and adaptation to climate change through participatory evaluation and selection of elite Bambara groundnut genotypes for improved food and nutrition security in semi-arid lands of Eastern Kenya | VC's Grant UoEm | KES 699,580 | Aug-19 | Dec-21 |
| 2 | Integration of Smart Sustainable Integrated Pest Management Strategies from Selected Local Plants for Improved Food Security among Small Holder Farmers in Semi-Arid Lands of Eastern Kenya’ | Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) | $ 36,915.00. | Jan-21 | Nov-22 |
| 3 | Resistance to the African and spotted stem borers of sorghum in Kenya | Regional Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) | USD 100,000 | 2013 | 2014 |