Young, Gifted and Eritrean

Dr. Ermias Kebreab is Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba as well as Canada Research Chair II. In 2006, he was presented with the Young Scientist Award from the Canadian Society of Animal Science. Here, Million Isaac talks to him about the importance of education, benefits of sacrifice and his greatest role model – his father.

In Eritrea, kids who did well at school would become instant celebrities. More than any other type of celebrity, these guys were the most distinguished. Ermias was such a kid. In Asmara where he grew up, people knew of him as the kid genius. As a child growing up in Asmara, I remember him as the tall and lanky boy people would point out in the street and whisper to each other, ‘that’s the genius you know.’

So years later, when I heard the news that Dr Ermias Kebreab, Associate Professor at a university in Canada, had been given the Young Scientist Award, it did not come to me as a surprise. It was simply a case of a man fulfilling his destiny.

When Ermias was 9, his father, the late Dr. Kebreab W. Giorgis, was appointed the Secretary General of the Asmara Chamber of Commerce and moved his family to Asmara from Ethiopia where Ermias was born. While in Addis Ababa, he studied at the Cathedral Boys Private School until grade three.

The family moved to Eritrea during one of the most difficult times in Eritrean history with war and lack of resources as major challenges especially for parents. In Asmara, he was sent to Comboni School for Boys, a private school run by missionaries of the Daniel Comboni order, and completed his 12^th grade there.

“The Comboni Fathers were a very strict group of missionaries who were dedicated to their profession,” remembers Dr Ermias “There was very little room for failure in the college. I remember the entire class in my year gained admission to a university of their choice. If you compared that to less than 20% rate of success in public schools, it shows that teaching methods and dedication of teachers has a great impact on student results.”

Dr. Ermias’s father had a huge influence in the academic performance of his son. Dr Kebreab was always attentive to his son’s academic needs and regularly followed up on his grades and advised him on how to improve them.

“My father has a lot to do with the type of person I’ve turned out,” says Dr. Ermias. “Before his death in 1981, he was the department head of the Economics Department at the University of Asmara and I have always wanted to be a professor working in a university as a result. He was a hard working, intelligent person which for any young kid is a great role model.”

As a young student, Ermias was always fascinated by biology. He wanted to learn about the different species of plants and animals and this eventually led him to the department of biology at the University of Asmara in 1983.

Although there was lack of resources at the University of Asmara at the time, the institution was teeming with dedicated and highly competent teachers who worked really hard to give their students a firm academic foundation. This was important in enabling many of Dr. Ermias’s contemporaries to succeed in Western universities later in life.

At university, he studied parasitic plants and their method of survival. However, during the last year, he developed great interest in plant-animal interactions which became the focus of his scientist’s life later on.

“I was an assistant to a Swedish taxonomist who was working in Asmara at the time and enjoyed finding out the local flora and I have collected a few plants that are part of the Herbarium at Asmara University,” he says.

In 1987, he gained his BSc in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics summa cum laude – with great distinction – and was offered a job at the university as a graduate assistant. After working there for two years, he won a scholarship from the World Bank and arrived in the UK to continue his graduate studies in 1989. In 1991, just as Eritrea gained its independence, he completed his MSc.

“Following independence, I didn’t see much point in staying in the UK,” he says. “Therefore, I left for home to join the University of Asmara once again. After two years of service, I went back to the UK to continue my education.”

In the UK, one of his biggest challenges was trying to get funding to study at graduate school in England. He did not have a sponsor when he enrolled for a PhD program and  had to work 16 hours a day in two low-paying jobs to save enough money to pay for his first year’s tuition.

“Once I saved enough money for the first year, I began studying and also working part-time to cover my living expenses,” he says. “During the first two years of my study, I wrote about 250 letters to funding agencies and was finally successful in obtaining a sponsor to cover the last two years of my three-year program.”

In 1998, he completed his PhD in Mathematical Modelling of Biological Systems. The same year, he joined the department of Agriculture at the University of Reading in England and worked as Research Associate until 2003.

“I was lucky to be offered a job just before I finished my PhD – so the transition from student to professional employment was smooth,” Dr. Ermias says. “So far, it’s been going very well and I’m on course to achieving my goal of full professorship and tenure within the next few years.”

Later in 2003, he was asked to relocate to Canada and join the University of Guleph. Three years after he arrived in Canada, he was invited to apply for a Canada Research Chair position, one of the few federally funded programs across Canada, and was offered a tenure track position as Associate Professor.

In 2006, he put together a team and currently heads a research program with three post-doctoral fellows, two doctoral and two master’s students. The federal government has funded a purpose built facility for the research group and currently Dr. Ermias manages a program with over $2 million annual turnover.

“As Canada Research Chair holder, I am expected to be a leader in the field of Mathematical modelling of Agricultural Systems,” says Dr. Ermias. “Basically, I try to develop models that will enable us to study the whole agricultural system as a whole and find solutions to various problems. One of these problems is emission of greenhouse gas from animals and their environment.”

Currently, Dr. Ermias is leading his group of scientists to conduct research with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emission from agriculture and help Canada meet its obligations to the Kyoto Protocol.

Most countries are signatory to this protocol and are required to lower their emissions. His main responsibility is therefore aimed at helping his adopted country overcome the challenges and find a sustainable way for greener and more economically feasible ways of farming.

In recognition of his consistently outstanding contribution to scientific research and its application in the real world, Dr Ermias has been presented with various awards. In 2007, he was presented with the Early Career Achievement Award.

The Early Career Achievement Award was introduced by the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) in 2007 to recognise the achievement of outstanding young scholars working toward the mission of ASAS. The previous year, Dr. Ermias was presented with the Young Scientist Award from the Canadian Society of Animal Science.

“Academically, receiving these two awards was the highlight of my career so far,” says Dr Ermias “Nomination to Canada Research Chair and receiving a framed letter from the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, were also highlights in my career. However, the most brilliant moment in my life happened when my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our daughter ten years ago.”

Dr. Ermias has also written a book in a posthumous collaboration with his father. The book, Yatawn Zemnawn Mslatat Tigrinya, contains over 5000 proverbs & 170 riddles and was published by Ermipublihing.

“I used to see my father write a book of Tigrinya proverbs when I was growing up and read most of what he was collecting at the time,” he remembers. “After his premature death in 1981, I wanted to get the book published so it would be available to readers interested in the great tradition Eritrean proverbs.”

Judging by the number of awards that have been bestowed upon him, it seems that Dr. Ermias is steadily and surely gaining a celebrity status amongst his colleagues in the world of scientific research. In his own words, “recent events in the world, especially the election of the first black president in the United States, have demonstrated that although there are a lot of challenges in life, they are not impossible to overcome.”

No doubt Dr. Ermias, despite any challenge that might come his way, will continue to make a difference in our world with an African signature.