Prof. Ademola Adenle is a well known interdisciplinary scholar around the world and is currently a Guest Professor of Sustainability Science and Innovation Policy at the Department of Technology Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Natural Science from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He completed a Master of Science in Biotechnology from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom (UK). He also obtained a Doctoral Degree in Bioscience with a focus on Health and Environment from the University of Nottingham, UK, and later studied a Master of Public Policy at the Green Templeton College and Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, UK. He won the best presentation award for his doctoral work in the whole of UK at the British Toxicology Society, which came with the monetary prize. He is the first black person to win such an award. He also won one of the best awards for the master programme with standing ovation from audience including the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
With over 25 years of combined experience in teaching, stakeholder engagement and research at the international level, and work at the interface of natural and social sciences, he focuses on development issues related to sustainable agriculture, climate change, food security, renewable energy, circular economy, natural resource management, innovation and entrepreneurship. His interdisciplinary work on sustainable development has featured in a number of media outlets both at the local and international level. He had taught in the UK, Japan, Germany and Nigeria. More than a decade ago, he received a lifetime achievement of competitive fellowship at the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Study (UNU-IAS), headquarters in Japan. At UNU-IAS, Prof. Adenle had multiple roles as a Principal Investigator, Research Fellow and Teaching Faculty for over four years. He has spearheaded projects on food system and regenerative agriculture at the national and international level. As an example, he led the largest study in the history of controversial Genetic Modification (GM ) agriculture in Africa and one of the largest studies on climate change adaptation in the continent. Most recently, in Nigeria, he led the first National Agricultural Soil Management Policy (NASMP), funded by the USAID, Feed the Future. Prof. Adenle had a privilege of meeting and interacting with five African presidents on a wide range of issues including food insecurity, energy poverty and infectious diseases affecting the continent.
Prof Adenle has produced more than 70 publications including book chapters and books and in top international journals like Nature Biotechnology, Environmental Management, Ecological Economics, Energy Policy and Food Policy, amongst others. His publications straddle scientific assessment and stakeholder engagement for overcoming sustainable development challenges and achieving global agenda in developing countries including countries in Africa. He led a team of international experts to publish a book project (with Cambridge University Press, 2017) on risk analysis and governance of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in developing world. He also successfully led over 70 experts around the world to complete a new book: “Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Insights from Agriculture, Health, Environment and Energy” (Oxford University Press, 2020), with forewords written by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Prof. Mohmoud Mohieldin (Senior Vice President of World Bank). The book is arguably the first interdisciplinary STI book in the history of the United Nations SDGs agenda. Prof. Adenle has won several awards. In 2020, he was selected as the Next Einstein Fellow (NEF) Laureate and the award was presented in his absentia by the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta. He was selected as 2023 Rockefeller Food System finalist in recognition of his leadership in global food system. Again, in 2023, he was the only African scholar that won the Sustainability 2022 Carbon Neutrality Award.