Professor Chioma Blaise Chikere is a Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, in the Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She is the Director of Entrepreneurial Centre, University of Port Harcourt. Other positions she occupies are: Academic Associate/Research Fellow at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA); Member, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Africa Council. Her specialization is Molecular Environmental/Petroleum Microbiology. She received Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) now Organization of Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD) postgraduate fellowship in 2005 for split-site PhD Programme at the Universities of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and the University of Pretoria, South Africa respectively. Prof. Chikere has published widely and was awarded the International Foundation of Science (IFS) research grants in 2007 and 2012. Her PhD Thesis titled ‘Bacterial Diversity and Community Dynamics during the Bioremediation of Crude Oil- Polluted soil’ was selected in 2013 by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as the Best Doctoral Thesis in Biological Sciences for 2010. Other awards she received include the University of Port Harcourt 2015 Distinguished Merit Award for diligent and meritorious service during University of Port Harcourt’s 40th anniversary; the three-year (June 2016-May 2019) TWAS-UNESCO Associateship in 2016 to Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa (1st visit: February 1 to March 31, 2017) under Professor Memory Tekere; and the Elsevier Foundation 2017 Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge 2nd prize held in Berlin, Germany. The Elsevier project has benefited a Niger Delta Community that has suffered untold environmental degradation occasioned by crude oil pollution. The polluted land in this locality has been fully recovered through bioremediation and is now fit for agricultural purposes. Chikere is happily married with 4 beautiful kids.
