Boubakary Aminatou (Ami) - Fulbright Student from Cameroon
Field: Entomology
Host Institution: Oklahoma State University
Ami (left) sits with another student and visiting Chinese scientist in a laboratory during her program.
International Graduate Student Memorial Scholarship
in Honor of Cameroonian Fulbright Student Boubakary Alhadji Bello Aminatou
Boubakary Alhadji Bello Aminatou (Ami), a Fulbright Student from Cameroon, passed away on July 14, 2010 while pursuing a Masters degree in Entomology at Oklahoma State University (OSU). She was studying integrated pest management of stored-product pests and had hoped to collaborate with scientists and NGOs to find alternatives to chemical pesticides to improve food security for farmers and people in Northern Cameroon. Dr. George Opit, Assistant Professor of Stored Product/Post Harvest Pest Management at OSU states that “Ami was brilliant, always positive and her enthusiasm, eagerness and joy were contagious. Tough to accept she left us too soon.”
In recognition of her spirit and her achievement, Professor Phillip Mulder (Head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology) with support from Kathy McNally (OSU Foundation) established a scholarship named ‘International Graduate Student Memorial Scholarship in Honor of Boubakary Aminatou’. The scholarship will fund graduate students in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). Future recipients will be determined by a committee, with preference given to students who graduated from high schools in countries other than the U.S. and who have shown financial need.
Ms. Aminatou’s research focused on pcocids (insect order Psocoptera) that have gained prominence as serious stored-product pests worldwide. Heavy psocid infestations can lead to serious germ damage and significant weight losses in stored grain. In addition, they pose a health hazard by transferring microorganisms and contaminating food materials, which can then be rejected by markets. Ms. Aminatou had been at OSU for less than a year when she passed away, but her research was published in the journal ‘Environmental Entomology’ (Environmental Entomology 40: 788-796). This is not the first time that Ms. Aminatou’s work was recognized. In 2002, she received a prize for women in science from the Cameroonian government, and in 2007, she received an ANAFE (African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education) research grant by ICRAF (World Agroforestry Centre).
Ms. Aminatou planned to return to Cameroon after completing her Fulbright to teach at the university level. Her knowledge and professional expertise will be greatly missed by her home country as well as current and future students. This scholarship recognizes the important contribution made by a Fulbright student and offers future opportunities to international students who wish to improve agricultural science and natural resource management.
To the U.S.-Cameroon Fulbright Program