By Kenneth Oboh

Olabisi Somefun is emerging as a significant contributor to water-smart agriculture in the United States, where her research supports efforts to improve irrigation efficiency, strengthen climate resilience, and enhance crop production. As global discussions on food security intensify, her work stands out for its precision, practical value, and scientific depth.

Her academic foundation began at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), where she earned a bachelor’s degree in plant physiology and crop production. She later completed a master’s degree in crop production under the mentorship of Prof. V. I. O. Olowe, gaining hands-on training in field trials, data collection, and the realities of tropical farming systems.

Now a USDA-funded PhD researcher at North Carolina A&T State University, Somefun studies how water availability and temperature fluctuations influence crop production in humid environments. Her work addresses a major challenge facing farmers worldwide: sustaining yield while reducing water use.

To meet this challenge, she uses modern agricultural technologies, including soil moisture sensors, plant health indicators, environmental monitoring systems, and climate-based crop models. By integrating these tools, she develops irrigation strategies that conserve water without compromising productivity—insights that have informed irrigation recommendations for growers in the southeastern United States.

Beyond her research, Somefun manages day-to-day operations within her research group, from equipment setup to supervising undergraduate students and maintaining long-term USDA-funded experiments. She also contributes to agricultural outreach through training programs, field demonstrations, and statewide extension events, helping farmers interpret and apply scientific tools effectively.

The impact of her work is expected to be particularly transformative in areas where farmers operate with limited resources and face uncertain water availability, such as parts of Nigeria and other tropical countries. In these areas, farmers often rely on guesswork rather than data to manage irrigation. The scientific thresholds and decision-support tools developed through her research would provide a structured, evidence-based approach that could drastically improve yield stability, reduce waste, and strengthen food production systems.

Her contributions have been recognized through multiple awards, including the CAES Academic Excellence Award, memberships in Phi Kappa Phi and Gamma Sigma Delta, the prestigious Irrigation E3 Learners Travel Award, and just recently, a top placement in the Syngenta NextGen Agribusiness Case Study Competition. She has published widely in peer-reviewed international journals across sustainable agriculture, agronomy, and environmental science. She also contributed a chapter to a book published by CABI, one of the world’s most respected scientific publishers. In addition, she serves as a reviewer for manuscripts submitted to major global publishing houses, including those under IEEE and Springer Nature, a responsibility typically entrusted to established researchers.

With ongoing work in temperature–yield modeling, sustainability assessments, and climate-adaptive irrigation, Somefun continues to advance research that supports both food production and environmental stewardship. From Lagos to Abeokuta to the United States, her trajectory reflects the strength, resilience, and global impact of Nigerian scientific talent.