Berhan Ahmed is an Eritrean- Australian social activist. He is the chairman of the African Think Tank, and in 2004 was the first immigrant born in Africa to run for an Australian parliamentary office. Ahmed was also presented the 2009 Victorian Australian of the Year award.

Background

Ahmed was born in Eritrea. He became a refugee at age 15 during the civil war and fled to Sudan. After attending high school with funding from the

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

, he gained a degree in Agricultural Sciences at the

University of Alexandria Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. At the age of 22, Ahmed sought asylum in Australia, eventually settling in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He drove a taxi and worked as a tram conductor, while earning a master's degree in Animal Science at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

. Ahmed worked for a decade at the CSIRO, and also gained a PhD in forest sciences at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

. He was latterly a senior research fellow at the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, and retains an honorary appointment at the university.

Scholarly contributions

Ahmed's research concerns

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

taxonomy and their effects on crops, trees, and wood products. He has developed termite distribution and taxonomies, and contributed to an integrated termite pest management ( IPM) system. Termites' own engineering can also inform better water and

soil management Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance (such as soil fertility or soil mechanics). It includes soil conservation, soil amendment, and optimal soil health. In agricult ...

by government, industry and the public. For the protection of infrastructure from wood boring termites, Ahmed has contributed to the development of the impermeable Granitgard technology, now included in the current Australian Standard (AS 3660.1 – 2000) for the protection of new and existing buildings.

Political and community work

Ahmed, originally a member of the Labor Party, ran for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 2004 for the Greens. He left that party soon afterwards. Ahmed received four percent of the primary vote as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate for the

2012 Melbourne state by-election A by-election was held for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Melbourne on Saturday 21 July 2012. This was triggered by the resignation of former minister and state Labor MLA Bronwyn Pike which she announced on 7 May 2012. Sixteen candid ...

. In 2012, Ahmed ran for the Mayor of the City of Melbourne, polling 2.45%.

Robert Doyle Robert Keith Bennett Doyle (born 20 May 1953) is an Australian politician who was the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008 until he resigned on 4 February 2018 amidst allegations of sexual harassment. He was previously M ...

was elected mayor. Ahmed was president of and a candidate for Voice for the West, a short-lived micro party that ran candidates in the

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incumb ...

, without electing any. Ahmed is the chairman of the Victoria-based Africa Think Tank, which serves migrant and refugee communities from Africa. He is involved in public advocacy on cultural issues, racism and human rights.

Awards

*2009 Victorian Australian of the Year award, in recognition of Ahmed's humanitarian work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Berhan Living people Eritrean emigrants to Australia Australian people of Eritrean descent Alexandria University alumni La Trobe University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Australian entomologists Australian activists Australian of the Year Award winners Eritrean refugees CSIRO people Immigrant rights activists