Dr. Catherine Lukhoba is a Senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi and most recently appointed Director, School of Biological Sciences. she is the first woman to hold this position at the College of Biological and Physical Sciences
TCC Africa: Tell me about your research career.
I got into research when I joined the University of Nairobi to pursue my Master’s degree in Botany. I had worked for less than one year but thought I should join an M.Sc. program since I had enjoyed my undergraduate course.
My postgraduate project was on a group of plants called the mint family . I came to realize that there were many others that didn’t smell as nice but were still in the same family since they had similar characteristics, I looked at the plants that were used medicinally in Kenya and I had about 30 different species of members of that family.
From there I applied for my PhD and ended working with almost the same group of plants with a focus on two genera, Ocimum and Plectranthas. In taxonomy one has to do a taxonomical revision where the scientific names of a particular group are reassessed through steps such as comparing characteristics of the plant group, and review of literature previously compiled to confirm the name in the country they are found. I looked at 9 different Ocimum species and about 30 Plectranthas, and their medicinal aspects. I then extracted their essential oils with the intention of carrying out phylogenetic analysis; using the oils to see if they were similar from different species. I only got 5 species due to the insecurity in the region where I was collecting my samples. Using the oil extractions and chemotaxonomic techniques which is the classification of plants and animals based on similarities and differences in biochemical composition, I was able to separate those members into different groups.
At a later stage I got the opportunity to go to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom which hosts one of the largest herbariums in the world and collaborate with scientist. The Kew Garden herbarium is relevant to Kenyan taxonomy field as it contains an extensive collection from Kenya taken during the colonial period. I got most of the specimen to compare with what I had and I was able to describe new species and variety.
TCC Africa: What are the highs and lows in your research career?
More at https://cbps.uonbi.ac.ke/basic-page/dr-catherine-lukhoba
