Researchers

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Waktole Tiki, Post-Doctoral Researcher 

Waktole photoWaktole Tiki is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Associate for the Emory research project on “Climate-Induced Vulnerability and Pastoralist Livestock Marketing Chains in Southern Ethiopia and Northeastern Kenya,” which is part of the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (LCC CRSP).   

Waktole received his B.A. in Sociology and Social Administration from Addis Ababa University in 1998, his M.Sc. in Natural Resource Management from Egerton University, Kenya, in 2002, and his Ph.D. in Environment and Development Studies from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in 2010.  He also served as an Assistant Professor at Hawassa University, Ethiopia. 

Born in the East Wallaga zone of the Oromia region, Ethiopia, Waktole has more than 14 years of research and consultancy experience in the southern, eastern and northern pastoral areas of Ethiopia, where he has worked with Borana, Afar and Somali herding communities. Prior to earning his graduate degrees, Waktole worked in the field of rural development in different government and non-governmental organizations from 1998 to 2000, conducting research and advising on land use management.  His areas of research expertise include droughts and their impacts, local water systems, environmental history, range management, natural resource-based conflicts, human vulnerability to climate change, pastoral risk management, land use and land tenure changes, and the role of indigenous institutions in natural resource management. Since 2005, Waktole has published in many peer-reviewed journals, including Historical Geography, The Geographical Journal, and the Journal of East African Studies. Waktole is fluent in Oromo language, Amharic, and English.  

Dejene Negassa Debsu, Post-Doctoral Researcher

Debsu Photo

Dr. Dejene currently is a Post-Doctoral Researcher for the Emory research project on "Climate Induced Vulnerability and Pastoralist Livestock Marketing Chains in Southern Ethiopia and Northeastern Kenya," which is part of the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (LCC CRSP). Dr Dejene received his B.A. in sociology and social administration from Addis Adaba University, his M.A. in anthropology from Addis Adaba University in 2001, and his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Kentucky in 2008. His doctoral research focused on the dynamics between state policies, resource tenure, and local conflict in a pastoral area of southern Ethiopia. After receiving several awards for outstanding teaching at the University of Kentucky, he taught as a visiting assistant professor at Miami University, Ohio from 2008 to 2010. His publications in referenced journals include "Gender and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: An Ethnographic Analysis of Guji-Oromo Women's Customary Rights," and "Customary Laws in Ethiopia: Institutions of Dispute Resolution among the Guji-Oromo Agropastoralists". His past consultancies and research include working with Save the Children UK, International Water Management Institute and OXFAM America. His current research interests are political ecology, resource management, pastoralism, development, conflict, and climate change in the Horn of Africa.  Dr. Dejene is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

 

Other Researchers

Chantelle Okondo, Researcher

Okondo photo

Chantelle Okondo was a research assistant during 2011 for the Emory research project on "Climate Induced Vulnerability and Pastoralist Livestock Marketing Chains in Southern Ethiopia and Northeastern Kenya."  She received a Master's in Public Health degree at Rollins School of Public Health in 2011.