Former Borlaug LEAP fellow Dr. Jeremiah Okeyo joined the fellowship as a PhD candidate at the University of Wyoming, where he was pursuing a doctorate in Soil Science. His doctoral research focused on conservation agriculture practices and how they influence soil quality and crop productivity under smallholder farmer conditions in East Africa.

Prior to his PhD studies, Dr. Okeyo worked as a research officer with the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) Institute of CIAT in Nairobi, under its pan-African network, AfNet. They work to promote innovative technologies and information dissemination among researchers, smallholder farmers, and other stakeholders in Africa. Dr. Okeyo completed his Borlaug LEAP Fellowship in the Fall of 2012, after having been mentored by Dr. Jay Norton of the University of Wyoming and Dr. Saidou Koala of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). A Kenyan national, Dr. Okeyo grew up in a rural farming community. He envisions promoting sustainable farming practices among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and looks forward to returning to his native Kenya to teach and conduct research as a way to use the knowledge he learned to give back to his country.  Dr. Okeyo completed his PhD in Soil Sciences in 2014 and is currently a Lecturer at Embu College in Kenya.