Scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure

Role: PhD candidate in Nigeria
Project: Spatiotemporal assessment of forest depletion and it impact on local climate variability in Abuja’s Gazetted Forest Reserves, Nigeria
Affiliation: Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London
ORCID ID: 0009-0007-0129-3182  4
Email: o.akinola26@imperial.ac.uk or jumokeakins@gmail.com

Olajumoke Akinola is a PhD researcher with over 14 years of professional experience in applying GIS, remote sensing, and Earth observation technologies. Her research interests focus on agricultural sustainability, food security, climate adaptation, and environmental management.  Her PhD research at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, investigates the relationships between forest depletion, local climate variability, and food security in Abuja’s gazetted forest reserves, Nigeria. This work will integrate geospatial analysis, climate data, and socioeconomic research.

Before moving to Imperial, she served as the Chief Scientific Officer in the Natural Resources Management Division at the National Space Research and Development Agency in Nigeria. She coordinated research activities, conducted field-based data collection and validation, and facilitated capacity-building programmes for agricultural extension agents, students, researchers, and policymakers. She has also contributed to national and international collaborative projects such as the Nigeria CropWatch Innovative Project, in collaboration with the Aerospace Information Research Institute, China, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions, and NASA Harvest.  She is the lead author of a publication titled “Spatial prioritization of agroforestry for carbon sequestration using GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis,” a Handbook of Carbon Negative Footprint Materials by Springer Nature, and co-authored eight papers on agricultural mapping, food systems, ecotourism, and carbon emissions.