Former Borlaug LEAP fellow Dr. Lauretta Ngere used her time as a fellow to work towards her PhD in Animal Breeding at Texas A&M University. Her doctoral project was entitled "Genetic Enhancement of Ruminant Resistance/Tolerance to Internal Parasites". Through her research work, she was looking to develop selection programs to improve resistance and/or tolerance to internal parasites in ruminants, thereby increasing livestock productivity and enhancing availability of food.
Dr. Ngere began her Borlaug LEAP fellowship in the summer of 2012 and was mentored by Dr. David Riley at Texas A&M University and with Dr. Karen Marshall at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya. She returned to her home country of Nigeria after completing her PhD in 2015 to join the Animal Breeding Teaching and Research faculty at an institution there in Nigeria.
Dr. Ngere aspires to be a leader in the agricultural field. Her vision is to become a professional Animal Scientist, who is trained and equipped to contribute to the improvement of African indigenous breeds of livestock, increase their productivity by selecting for disease resistance, and address the problem of nutrition and hunger. She wants to help in improving the economic state of farmers by disseminating knowledge, solutions and strategies for improvement and ultimately enhance long-term and equitable solutions for agriculture and food production. She has is strongly interested in being a part of the movement for reducing hunger, malnutrition and alleviating poverty in developing countries, particularly her country, Nigeria through International Agricultural development and Animal production. Ultimately, she wants to contribute to the development of agriculture worldwide.