The continent’s role in the global economy depends on development from within.

I did my PhD at Oregon State University in Corvallis on the genetics of seed dormancy and drought tolerance. When I finished in 2017, I hesitated a bit about a career in academia. It wouldn’t be satisfying for me if it had no direct impact on my community. I wasn’t motivated to apply for many postdocs because I felt like that would be doing a PhD 2.0 — I didn’t want to commit to another four years. But I knew that I would also struggle to build a research career from nothing if I came back to Senegal.

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