Dr. GT Pambuka obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein campus. He is an experienced Agricultural Scientist and Researcher and has worked in various positions in the agricultural industry. In 2018, he joined the University of the Free State-Next Generation Sequencing (UFS-NGS) Unit, as a Research Assistant while pursuing his Ph.D. He was part of the Enteric Virus Metagenomics research group in the UFS-NGS Unit, conducting whole-genome sequencing of enteric viruses under the umbrella of African Enteric Viruses Initiative (AEVGI) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. His Ph.D. studies focused on the molecular basis of plant-microbe interactions and ecosystem-based interactions in different agricultural cropping systems. He has published his work in peer-reviewed international journals. Prof. MM Nyaga was his co-promoter in his research, providing immense expertise on next-generation sequencing technologies. Dr. Pambuka is currently a Research Scientist at Andermatt PHP (South Africa), a subsidiary of the Andermatt Group (Switzerland). As part of the Research and Development team (Innovation), Dr. Pambuka works with “Nature” to provide safe and effective agricultural solutions with the goal to replace chemical pesticides with good biological alternatives, such as microbial products.
