Adenike Adebukola Akinsemolu is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

sustainability advocate, educator, author, and a

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

. She is a lecturer at

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

(Adeyemi College Campus). She is known as one of the country's leading experts on

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. Akinsemolu founded the Green Campus Initiative, which became the Green Institute. She founded the Girl Prize which provides financial and mentorship support for young Nigerian secondary school girls. Akinsemolu has received the

Robert Bosch Stiftung The is a German foundation that owns a majority shareholding in Robert Bosch GmbH, from which it derives its funding. The foundation was established in accordance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, who died in 1942, and conducts and finances s ...

Award and the Nigeria Energy Award. She is an author of papers published in

academic journals An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

, including on the role of

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

s in achieving

sustainable development goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

Career

Adenike Akinsemolu was born in

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

, Nigeria. She holds

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and Ph.D degrees in

Environmental Microbiology ''Environmental Microbiology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal focused on microbial interactions and microbial processes in the environment. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell. Until January 2024, it was an official journal of the S ...

from

Babcock University Babcock University is a private Christian co-educational Nigerian university owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria. The university is located at Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, equidistant between Ibadan and La ...

and Federal University of Technology, and a

postgraduate diploma fILE:Prédio Pós Graduação IMECC Unicamp.jpg, The State University of Campinas, as well as many Brazilian universities, offer Postgraduate courses in Brazil A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PGD) is a postgraduat ...

in Education from

. She worked with the

Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and later established the Green Campus Initiative. Akinsemolu is an Associate Fellow of the

Royal Commonwealth Society The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting co ...

, and a member of the National Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria (SEPAN) under the Ministry of Power. She is a

Young Researcher Awardee. In October 2015, she won Nigeria Energy Awards for Energy Efficiency and Advocacy. She advocated for the inclusion of green education and sustainability in the Nigerian academic curriculum. In 2015,

Sahara Reporters Sahara Reporters is a news agency based in New York City that focuses on promoting citizen journalism by encouraging everyday people to report stories about corruption, human rights abuses and other political misconduct in Africa, with special f ...

did a documentary on her Green Journey. Akinsemolu serves as an Academic Associate with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Sustainable Development Solutions Network The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) is a non-profit launched by the United Nations in 2012 to promote the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and international levels. As of 2022, the SDSN has o ...

and a Scientific Committee Member of the 6th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD), at

The Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 2020, Akinsemolu published the book: "''The Principles of Green and Sustainability Science,"'' that examines sustainability issues in Africa. In March 2021, Akinsemolu was recognized as one of the top youth leaders in conservation on the continent, becoming one of the Nigerian winners of the Africa’s Top 100 Young Conservation Leaders award by the Africa Alliance of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

, the

African Wildlife Foundation The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organization created with the intent of preserving Africa's wildlife, wild lands, and natural resources. Founded in 1961, the organization helped establish conservation progr ...

and

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

Green Institute

In 2015, Akinsemolu founded Green Campus Initiative (GCI), the first campus-based environmental advocacy organization in Nigeria. Its organizational model was recognized at the Fourth Annual Green Campuses Conference, 2015, at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

in South Africa, with awards for green campus activities. GCI is a member of the UN

. In 2016, the Green Campus Initiative developed into the Green Institute, the sustainability research and training institution, and a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

. Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi became the first president of the institute. The institute provides academic programs on Sustainability and activities on building social entrepreneurship, in line with meeting the

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

. The organization is the first academic institution in Nigeria to finance college tuition through a waste management program named "Trash for education", which provides students with credits in return for collected waste, which is later purchased by the state government and private enterprises. In June 2020, The Green Institute organized a global sustainability summit on

World Environment Day World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It is supported by many non-governmental organizations, businesses, government entities, and represents the ...

(5 June), gathering over twenty five sustainability leaders from various countries, including the renowned economic environmentalist,

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs ( ; born November 5, 1954) is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University, where he was formerly director of The Earth Institute. He worked on the topics of sustainable develop ...

Social issues and advocacy

Akinsemolu has promoted the girl child education cause and founded the "Girl Prize," a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

and

mentorship Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

program. She participated in the Clinton Foundation relief mission, following the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicenter, epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Submarine earthquake, undersea ...

and

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Awards and recognition

* Robert Bosch Stiftung Young Researcher Award. * Nigeria Energy Awards for Energy Efficiency and Advocacy, 2015. * Member of the National Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria (SEPAN) * Academic Associate with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. * Scientific Committee Member of the 6th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD)

Publications

Academic papers

* *

Book

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akinsemolu, Adenike Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nigerian women academics Nigerian environmentalists Nigerian women environmentalists Nigerian social entrepreneurs Babcock University alumni Federal University of Technology Akure alumni People from Ondo State Nigerian women educators