Prof. Ekeoba Matthew ISIKHUEMEN is a Consultant Forest Conservation & Ecosystem Rehabilitation Ecologist. He holds a Doctorate degree in Forest Conservation & Ecology (PhD) from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria; Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) and Master's degree in Environmental Conservation (MSc.) as well as Bachelor's degree in Agriculture (B. Agric. Forestry and Wildlife) from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
A consummate administrator and manager of both human and environmental resources, Prof. E. M. Isikhuemen has over forty (40) years of work and cognate experience spanning government, civil society, private sector and now in academia. His specialty and areas of interest straddles forest resources conservation & management; ethno-botany/medicinal flora; restoration of degraded forest and related ecosystems and wildlife as well as community based natural resources conservation/management. He is a Visiting Scholar at the United Nations University — Institute for Natural Resources for Africa (INRA), Ghana, and an Ambassador of UNU-INRA.
He is an ardent consultant in the diverse fields of forestry — Inventory; Plantation establishment/management; Restoration/Rehabilitation of forests in marginal/fragile forest and agricultural landscapes; Establishment of ethnomedicinal gardens and grooves; Erosion control and management; Establishment and implementation of forest resources projects; Monitoring & Evaluation of forestry and agroforestry projects, etc. He facilitated the establishment of a collaborative project on ex situ propagation and development of Sweet prayers plant (Thaumatococcus danielii) by the Nigerian Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja and University of Benin, (UNIBEN) in the university's main campus in Benin City. He presently oversees the project as pioneer Coordinator.
As an accomplished Conservation Ecologist with unfettered passion for forest species rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration, Prof. E. M. Isikhuemen, in 2019, established Nigeria's first private species rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration project on a 50-ha degraded forest/agricultural landscape at Udakpa, Ubiaja in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Prof. E. M. Isikhuemen has attended, and presented papers in, several local and world international congresses, conferences and workshops; and has over 45 publications in peer reviewed Journals/Conference proceedings and Technical reports to his credit.