Activities
Educational Concept and Planning
ITCER bases its training program on international lecturers who volunteer their specific expertise on certain cutting-edge methods of environmental research to students from Kenya and its neighboring countries. ... more
The courses are short-term and take place at the training center, including laboratory and fieldwork. The lecturers provide detailed information and course offerings, which are reviewed by a management committee consisting of Kenyan and German ITCER members for compliance with ITCER objectives. Interested students may apply for a specific course and will be selected based on their background. For students in need, any fees incurred will be will be subsidized based on need and available funds. Accreditation of the course program by the Commission for University Education (CUE; Nairobi, Kenya) is strongly pursued in order to issue certificates with credit points that are recognized by the students’ home universities.
Programme
The academic learning program envisaged is in three parts, as we will offer the following.
- Teaching modules ... more
over a period of max. 2 weeks and up to 15 MSc and PhD students per course: these training courses combine diagnostics and measures by providing knowledge of the latest methods and their application in specific use cases.
- One-day educational seminars ... more
for target groups to inform and raise awareness about the latest methods and approaches as well as relevant scientific results.
- Selected scientific presentations ... more
and local community involvement to encourage participation in ITCER’s work and socially relevant issues related to the conservation and restoration of the natural environment.
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In addition, based on the needs arising from targeted training and collaboration with universities in Western Kenya and beyond, scholarly projects can be identified to take the use-case based training approach to a further, more intensive level of capacity building in Kenya and its neighboring countries.
Examples of Training Courses
ITCER courses provide training and knowledge in vegetation science and conservation, plant pathology and parasitology, omics-based microbial ecology, soil science and hydrology, biological informatics and data management, GIS analysis, and remote sensing.
- Biodiversity and Conservation ... more
(cellular, species, and ecosystem levels) will focus on disseminating knowledge about restoration of degraded soils and native species declines, addressing invasive species issues, and assessing the environmental health and ecosystem services of existing ecosystems. Techniques for quantifying ecosystem function and structure will be presented as part of the training.
- Soil and Water Conservation ... more
will cover soil ecology, engineering, chemistry and hydrology. The training aims to provide sustainable solutions to the various forms of pollution and is designed along biological control mechanisms. For example, experiments with microorganisms to bioremediate plastic pollution in the environment will be conducted using fungi and bacteria to demonstrate the ability of microorganisms to degrade plastic.
- Plant Pathology ... more
will cover mycology, bacteriology and nematology. The training will focus on the collection of samples from infected crops and plants, and morphological, cultural and molecular examinations and control measures will be demonstrated. The training will provide solutions to ensure food safety and provide basic knowledge of pathogen biology.
- Environmental Data Management ... more
will focus on data integration and management in environmental research. Based on use cases and using e.g. the free open source software tool Diversity Workbench (DWB) with its different components and the particular strength of implementing data standards, the complete workflows with data pipelines will be elaborated. In particular, the training covers the construction of a database from scratch, data exchange formats, schemas and data transformations, as well as the GIS tools for editing and managing georeferenced data.
Selected Specific Topics to be Taught at the Centre
- Rhizosphere interactions impacting plant response to drought in semiarid environments
- Soil and plant-associated mycobiomes — structures and interactions
- Complex, adaptive responses of plants to changing environmental conditions
- The economic importance of insects in agricultural systems
- Interactions between ecosystem functioning and socio-economic needs of local communities
- The role of secondary metabolites in plant health and defense mechanisms
Apply for a Course
(Functional as soon as training courses are announced)
Ongoing Research Projects
A number of research projects are being established. One is underway since January 2023.
Recent Publications
- Gkoutselis, G.M., Rohrbach, S., Harjes, J., Brachmann, A., Horn, MA., Rambold, G.: Plastiphily is linked to generic virulence traits of important human pathogenic fungi, Communications Earth & Environment (2024). doi:10.1038/s43247-023-01127-3
- Kinge, T.R., Jefwa, J.M., Houdanon, R.D., Milenge, H.K., Abdel-Azeem, A.M., Gryzenhout, M., Triebel, D., Weibulat, T., Rambold, G.: Management and publication of scientific data on traditional mycological and lichenological knowledge in Africa, Lichenologist (2023). doi:10.1017/S0024282923000294
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- Gkoutselis, G.M., Rohrbach, S., Harjes, J., Obst, M., Brachmann, A., Horn, M., Rambold, G.: Microplastics accumulate fungal pathogens in terrestrial ecosystems, Scientific Reports (2021). doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92405-7
- Schweiger, A., Ullmann, M., Nürk, N.M., Triebel, D., Schobert, R., Rambold, G.: Chemical properties of key metabolites determine the global distribution of lichens, Ecology Letters (2021). doi:10.1111/ele.13930
- Cheng, T., Chepkirui, C., Decock, C., Matasyoh, J.C., Stadler, M.: Sesquiterpenes from an Eastern African medicinal mushroom belonging to the genus Sanghuangporus, J. Nat. Prod. (2019). doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b01086
- Chepkirui, C., Cheng, T., Sum, B.W., Decock, C., Matasyoh, J.C., Praditya, D.F., Steinmann, E., Stadler, M. Skeletocutins, A.L.: Antibacterial agents from the Kenyan wood-inhabiting Basidiomycete, Skeletocutis sp., J. Agric. Food Chem. (2019). doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.9b02598
- Okach, D.O., Ondier, J.O., Kumar, A., Rambold, G., Tenhunen, J., Huwe, B., Otieno, D.O.: Livestock grazing and rainfall manipulation alter the patterning of CO2 fluxes and biomass development of the herbaceous community in a humid savanna, Plant Ecology (2019). doi:10.1007/s11258-019-00977-2
- Okach, D.O., Ondier, J.O., Kumar, A., Rambold, G., Tenhunen, J., Huwe, B., Otieno, D.O.: Interactive influence of livestock grazing and manipulated rainfall and soil properties in a humid tropical savanna, Journal of Soils and Sediments (2919). doi:10.1007/s11368-018-2117-x