Staff

Folaranmi Dapo Babalola, PhD, is a professor of forest socioeconomics and environmental forestry in the Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He currently serves as Head of Department (2024 to date) and Chairman of both the University of Ilorin Teak Plantation Management Committee (2017 to date) and the Campus Tree Management Committee (2024 to date).

From 2012 to 2017, he held a postdoctoral fellowship and served as an extraordinary and visiting lecturer in the postgraduate forest science programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He was also a recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including Visiting Scientist at the African Forest Forum / ICRAF (World Agroforestry), Kenya (2025); Visiting Scholar, University of Lincoln, United Kingdom (2023); Visiting Scholar and Researcher, University of Pretoria, South Africa (2018); Vice Chancellor Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pretoria, South Africa (2012–2014); Fellowship of the African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) and African Academy of Sciences (AAS) (2007); and African Scholarship Award of the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) and European Community, British Ecological Society & BAT Biodiversity Partnership (2003).

Professor Babalola has an extensive academic portfolio with about 200 scientific publications in reputable journals, conference proceedings, technical reports, and books, and has presented his work at numerous national and international conferences. He has received several awards, scholarships, sponsorships, and international research grants. Some of these include the National Geographic Explorer Grant (2019) and Meridian Grant (2022) of the National Geographic Society, USA; UNEP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) (2020); Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) (2019); Rufford Grant, UK (2019 and 2016); TETFund IBR (2015); Outreach Grant, British Ecological Society (BES), UK (2014); International Foundation for Science (IFS), Sweden (2006); International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Japan (2005); and African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) (2002), among others.

He delivered the First Inaugural Lecture of the Department and the 277th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ilorin, titled “The Beliefs, Myths, and Facts about Forests and Connection to Humanity,” on 10th April 2025. He has served as a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on small-scale forestry in Africa and to the African Forest Forum on forestry education in Africa.

Prof. Babalola is highly active in professional societies. He served as President of the Nigerian Tropical Biology Association (NTBA) (2006–2017) and President of the Nigeria Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (NSCB) (2014–2019). He is currently the Coordinator of the Forest Education Working Group of the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) (2024 to date). He is also an active member of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

As a recognised academic, he has served as an external examiner to several universities within and outside Nigeria and has successfully supervised four master’s and six doctoral students to completion. He founded Save Sahara Network (SSN), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to saving nature and empowering people at the grassroots.