Adebare Johnson Adeleke

Adebare is a Microbiologist and currently a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria. His research has primarily focused on bioconversion of waste materials into useful products to contribute towards solving environmental health issues which result from improper disposal of wastes and the combustion of fossil fuels. He believes that besides continuous research and academic publications, substantial effort must be made to transfer science knowledge and innovations to the public for a maximum impact on the society. Adebare was born in Abeokuta, Southwest Nigeria. Throughout his secondary school years, Adebare had excellent grades in all his subjects and at some point; he was awarded the third best student prize in Biology. Due to his academic excellence and his leadership skills, he was appointed as the Senior Prefect of his set. He later wrote the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 1999 with distinctions in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Geography and Agricultural Science. Based on his strengths in sciences, he decided to consider a career in Biological Sciences. In the year 2000, Adebare enrolled at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria where he studied and obtained a National Diploma Certificate in Science Laboratory Technology. He then proceeded to Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State in 2002 to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology. This, he completed in 2007 and graduated with a Second-Class Upper Division. His undergraduate project was titled the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in the nostrils of healthy children in Ago-Iwoye community.

 

Adebare had his first experience in public engagement at this point when he embarked on a house to house campaign to enlighten the community people about his project and to canvass for their cooperation before he could go ahead for samples collection. Upon graduation, he was posted to Saint Angela Girls Grammar School, Jattu, Edo State where he taught science subjects for his compulsory national service between 2008 and 2009. Besides his primary assignments during his service year, he organised a seminar worthy of note on Adolescent Reproductive Health within the community. This held over a period of one month. In addition, he led a group of youth corps members to organise a rally to create awareness about HIV and AIDS. This led to the provision of free HIV counselling and testing at Avielle community of Edo State in 2009; with technical support from the Federal Medical Centre, Auchi, Edo State. Passionate about the girl child education, Adebare also revived the annual prize giving day event at Saint Angela Girls Grammar School in order to motivate the students to prioritize their studies and strive towards academic excellence. In 2010, Adebare proceeded to University of Ibadan-Nigeria for a master’s degree in Industrial Microbiology which he completed in 2011 with a PhD grade. In 2012, owing to his passion for academics and the transfer of knowledge, he applied for and secured a lecturing job at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria. In 2015, he was awarded a full time Study Fellowship to pursue his Ph.D. at University of Ibadan. In 2016, Adebare was a visiting research scholar for six months at the Microbial Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany, National and Kapodistrain University of Athens, Greece in the group of Dr. Dimtris Hatzinikolaou. There, he carried out some experiments which formed part of his Ph.D research. His thesis is focussed on bioethanol production from pre-treated sugarcane bagasse under optimised conditions using selected fungi. Adebare is a member of four professional bodies which include Nigerian Society for Microbiology (NSM), Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and The Microbiology Society.

​