Featured Graduate Student - Joshua Ajowele
Joshua Ajowele is a PhD student in the Program in Ecology at the University of Wyoming in Dr. Kevin Wilcox’s lab. He has a BSc. in Plant Science from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria. He was awarded a Felix Scholarship to study at the University of Reading, UK, where he obtained his MSc. degree in Plant Diversity. Joshua was part of the University of Reading team that won the Botanical University Challenge in 2020.
Joshua’s current research on Konza is investigating how fire and grazing interaction in the context of Patch-burn grazing (PBG) promotes spatial heterogeneity in tallgrass prairie ecosystem and if this spatial heterogeneity leads to temporal stability of ecosystem functions and structure. He is synthesizing long-term data on species composition at multiple trophic levels, vegetation structure and soil chemi
stry as well as collecting data on below and above ground net primary productivity, net ecosystem exchange and soil respiration to address these patterns.
Joshua is committed to increasing access to global opportunities for graduate study to underprivileged groups especially In Nigeria through graduate school application webinars and co-hosting a graduate school mentorship program where support is provided for prospective graduate students.
He enjoys botanizing and playing sports especially soccer. If you are interested in his research, you can follow Joshua on Twitter https://twitter.com/jajowele or contact him via email at jajowele@uwyo.edu.