Faculty: Forestry
Program: Master of International Forestry
Year: 2016
Country: Ghana
From a young age, Grace was known for planting trees around her home. She developed a passion for environmental issues because the local river and forest area in her village was being depleted to make way for agriculture development. Her desire to see the environment in her community maintained led her down an academic path of general science throughout her secondary education. Grace’s passion for the environment led her to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where she obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Natural Resources Management. Some of Grace’s work during her undergraduate degree focused on wildfire management and included a week-long wildfire education project in Tepa Abonsuaso, a forest fringe community where she has spent the early part of her childhood. The goal of the project was to inform people about the causes, effects, dangers as well as possible remedies of wildfires.
Grace has noted that the urgency to curtail the negative backlashes of natural resource depletion has depended on professionals who have the knowledge and experience to sensitize and educate the general public on sustainable natural resources management. Grace believes that the Master of International Forestry program will provide her with the knowledge and skills to tackle two important environmental issues she is passionate about – nature conservation in city environments as well as the increasing risk of wildfires in Ghana.