David Okali

Vice President

David Uke Ukiwe Okali, a Nigerian, is an Emeritus Professor of Forest Ecology, Department of Forest Production and Products, University of Ibadan. He is a product of Government College, Umuahia, University College Ibadan, Sheffield University and Oxford University, both in the United Kingdom, and holds the D.Sc. (Agric)(Honoris causa) degree of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. He worked as a lecturer (1963 – 2001), mostly at the University of Ibadan, from where he retired in 2001. He served twice (1983, 1987) as Visiting Professor, Yale University, USA, and was chairman of the Nigerian committee of UNESCO’s Man  and the Biosphere (MAB) programme (1978 – 2010), chairman and trustee of the NGO, the Nigerian Environmental Study and  Action Team (NEST)(1998 – 2020), President, Nigerian Academy of Science (2006 – 2009), and President, Nigerian Field Society (2005 – 2010).

 He is widely published, including authoring Climate Change and Nigeria: A Guide for Policy Makers (2004, NEST), editing The Nigerian Rain Forest Ecosystem (1979, MAB),  co-editing Nigerian Wetlands (1990, MAB), Climate Change and African Forest and Wildlife Resources (2011, African Forest Forum), and The Nigerian Environment: Past 100 Years and the Future (2019, NEST). He has served on the editorial boards of several journals including, notably, Journal of Forest Ecology and Management (1978 – 82), Journal of Tropical Ecology (1985 -92), and The Nigerian Field (continuing).

His current interest is environment, society and sustainable development.