Dr. Soul Shava joined the Borlaug LEAP Fellowship in 2006 as a doctoral student at Rhodes University in South Africa.  Hailing from Zimbabwe, Dr. Shava did his research on indigenous knowledge representation and application in selected environmental education processes in Southern Africa. He was mentored by Dr. Marianne Krasny, a Professor of Natural Resources at Cornell University and Dr. Margaret Kroma, a researcher at AfricaRice in Benin. Dr. Krasny was working on how to create experiences for youth and adults that lead not only to greater environmental, agricultural, and cultural understanding, but, hopefully, more democratic communities.  

While at Cornell, Dr. Shava worked with Dr. Krasny on her urban agriculture initiatives and took advantange of their extensive agricultural library to further his knowledge.  Dr. Kroma's work involved assessing the status of local seed systems in several sub-Saharan African countries and the social factors that led to the supply and demand dynamic at the time.  Dr. Shava worked with Dr. Kroma a AfricaRice to refine his application methods of the indigenous knowledge he collected as a part of his research.  

Dr. Shava graduated with his PhD in Environmental Education in 2008 and is currently working for the University of South Africa as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Education.