Aster Afwork Gebrekirstos FAAS TWAS is an Ethiopian scientist and a professor of

agroforestry Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. Trees produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional ...

at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

Early life and education

Aster Gebrekirstos was born in Shire, Tigray, Ethiopia as the first child of a family of seven. She had the intention of becoming a doctor but her high school results did not qualify her for the profession and she had to choose between teaching and forestry and she chose the latter. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the Haramaya University. She stayed at the Haramaya University as a graduate assistant immediately after her bachelor's degree before winning the Netherland Fellowship and complete an Master of Science at Wageningen University & Research (1996–1998). She took a lectureship position at Wondo Genet College of Forestry, Hawassa University. She was awarded German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship to do a Doctor of Philosophy at Gottingen University in Germany (2001–2005). After her PhD, she joined as postdoctoral researcher at the department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Umeå University, Sweden (2006–2008) before going to

ICRAF World Agroforestry (a brand name used by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, ICRAF) is an international institute headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and founded in 1978 as "International Council for Research in Agroforestry" ...

, Kenya and Göttingen University, Germany (2009–2011).

Career and research

As a

dendrochronologist Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

, she established dendrochronology laboratory in Ethiopia in 2009, the dendrochronology laboratory at Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources in 2010, and the World Agroforestry Centre's dendrochronology laboratory in Kenya in 2013. Her research focuses on Dendroisotopy, climate change, plant-water relations, and social forestry. Gebrekirstos is a visiting professor at the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change, Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) program, Dresden University of Applied Sciences, Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management (CIPSEM). She is the serving as the Chair of the Environment Committee

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery a ...

and Deputy coordinator of IUFRO Task Force on Global Tree Mortality Patterns and Trends, Mountain Research Institute Science Leadership Council.

Awards and recognitions

She was elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2017, a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences in 2021, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Sciences in 2021. In 2014, she was awarded the African Climate Award for Excellence Research in climate adaptation and mitigation. She is also the Winner of the 2019 Special Award for Ground Breaking Science; an African-wide Young Professionals and Women in Science Competitions that was organized by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is the technical branch of African Union Commission The Commission of the African Union acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union (and is somewhat analog ...

, Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), and the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to p ...

(NEPAD).

Selected publications

*Aster Gebrekirstos, Ralph Mitlöhner, Demel Teketay, Martin Worbes (2008/10)
''Climate–growth relationships of the dominant tree species from semi-arid savanna woodland in Ethiopia''
Trees 22:631-641 *Aster Gebrekirstos, Demel Teketay, Masresha Fetene, Ralph Mitlöhner (2006). '' Adaptation of five co-occurring tree and shrub species to water stress and its implication in restoration of degraded lands.'' Forest Ecology and Management 229:1-3 259-267 *Aster Gebrekirstos, Martin Worbes, Demel Teketay, Masresha Fetene, Ralph Mitlöhner (2009/4/1). ''Stable carbon isotope ratios in tree rings of co-occurring species from semi-arid tropics in Africa: patterns and climatic signals''. Global and Planetary Change 66:3-4 253-260 *Abiyu A, Mokria M, Gebrekirstos A, Bräuning A. (2018)
''Tree-ring record in Ethiopian church forests reveals successive generation differences in growth rates and disturbance events. Forest Ecology and Management''
409: 835–844. *Mokria M, Gebrekirstos A, Abiyu A, Noordwijk M, Bräuning A. (2017)
''Multi‐century tree‐ring precipitation record reveals increasing frequency of extreme dry events in the upper Blue Nile River catchment''
Global Change Biology 23: 12 5436–5454.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebrekirstos, Aster Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences TWAS fellows Ethiopian scholars Ethiopian scientists Hawassa University alumni Women in forestry Ethiopian women scientists People from Tigray Region Climatologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people