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PROFILE
Yaw B. Ansah is an interdisciplinary researcher with over 7 years research / extension experience in the United States of America (USA), Ghana, and Tanzania conducting field and lab research and working with farmers in improving their livelihoods in environmentally-sustainable ways. He has worked on USAID and CIDA (Canada)-sponsored projects in Ghana mostly while enrolled in graduate school in the USA. Ansah served as a doctoral/research assistant on the Aquaculture and Fisheries Innovation Lab’s projects from August 2008 to December 2014, while a graduate student at Virginia Tech in the USA. He was awarded the Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP) Fellowship in 2011, and has excelled in various leadership positions. Ansah is the author of peer-reviewed papers on subjects such as applied economics, aquatic ecology and tilapia farming in various journals. He also has presented widely at international conferences. His interests are at the interface of food security and natural resource conservation. He enjoys travelling and always looks forward to the next community, culture, and experience he is going to be working in.
EDUCATION
PhD. Fish and Wildlife Conservation (August 2010 – December 2014)
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).
Dissertation: Enhancing profitability of fish farm operations through resource management and environmental best management practices
Graduate Certificate in International Research and Development (August 2013 – May 2014)
Interdisciplinary, Virginia Tech.
MSc. Agricultural and Applied Economics (August 2011 – December 2013)
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech.
MSc. Fisheries Science (August 2008 – May 2010)
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech, U.S.A.
Thesis: Characterization of pond effluents and biological and physicochemical assessment of receiving waters in Ghana
BSc. (Hons) Natural Resources Management (August 2003 – June 2007)
Department of Freshwater Fisheries and Watershed Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.
Thesis: Relationship between wetland disturbance and characteristics of wetland flora
PROJECTS COMPLETED
1. Enhancing the profitability of small aquaculture operations in Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania through improved resource management and environmental best management practices (May 2010 – December 2013)
Funding: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Collaborating Institutions: Virginia Tech (USA), K. N. University of Science and Technology (KNUST-Ghana), and Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Program (AquaFish CRSP, USA).
Duties, as Doctoral Research Assistant: Contribution to project design, recruitment and training of field technicians, supervision of field work, supervision of physical and social/market data collection, data management, data analysis, manuscript-writing, conference presentations, and organization and hosting AquaFish workshops and seminars:
a) The annual 3-day Aquaculture Best Management Practices Dissemination Workshop for fish farmers in Ghana (2011 – 2013)
b) Orientation of farmers selected for AquaFish demonstrations (2010)
c) Experimental design for fisheries professionals in Ghana (2010)
d) Fish-farm impacts on effluent-receiving streams in Ghana (2010)
Achievements: Project was completed ahead of schedule, three peer-reviewed publications (plus two currently in review), six conference papers, increased workshop attendance each year, excellent workshop reviews, invitation to serve as a trainer at the Tanzania BMP workshop in August 2014.
2. Experimental pond unit assessment of AquaFish CRSP research sites in Ghana (May 2012 – September 2012)
Funding: USAID
Collaborating Institutions: Virginia Tech (USA), KNUST (Ghana), and AquaFish CRSP (USA).
Duties, as Doctoral Research Assistant: Contribution to project design, recruitment and training of field technicians, project proposal interpretation and fieldwork scheduling, data management, data analysis, manuscript-writing, and conference presentations.
Achievements: Project completed ahead of schedule, one peer-review publication, and one conference paper.
3. Characterizing adoption of aquaculture best management practices in Ghana (June 2011 – June 2012)
Funding: Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (Borlaug LEAP) Fellowship
Collaborating Institutions: Virginia Tech (USA) and International Water Management Institute (Africa Office, Ghana).
Duties, as Doctoral Researcher/Fellow: Project design and fellowship application, project management, recruitment and training of field technicians, supervision of survey administration and data entry, data management and analysis, manuscript-writing, conference presentations.
Achievements: $20,000 fellowship award, one publication (in review), and one conference paper.
4. Characterization of pond effluents and biological and physicochemical assessment of receiving waters in Ghana (August 2008 – November 2009)
Funding: USAID
Collaborating Institutions: Virginia Tech (USA), KNUST (Ghana), and AquaFish CRSP (USA)
Duties, as Graduate Assistant: Establishing working relations with fish farmers and relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies, establishing network of laboratory technicians for AquaFish CRSP analyses, recruitment and training of field technicians, supervision of fieldwork, supervision of data entry, data management, data analysis, manuscript-writing, and conference presentations.
Achievements: Project was completed ahead of schedule, educational leaflets on aquaculture impacts for fish farms, excellent working relations with fish farmers and other aquaculture stakeholders in Ghana, two peer-review publications, and three conference papers.
5. Agroforestry Practices for the Enhancement of Resource-poor Livelihoods (APERL) collaboration project for rural communities in Ghana (February 2008 – July 2008)
Funding: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Collaborating Institutions: Guelph University (Canada) and KNUST (Ghana)
Duties, as Field Supervisor: Training field technicians, leading field crews for questionnaire administration and door-to-door extension of Agroforestry practices, data entry and analysis
Achievements: most of the field technicians trained on the project were recruited for the 2010 Ghana Census exercise.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Trainer/Field Researcher, West African Regional Fisheries Program (March 2015 – date)
Duties: Developing training materials on farm profitability analysis, co-leading training workshop on fish farm business planning and profitability analysis for government fisheries officers, supervising farm study on lowing feeding rate, supervising farm trials on fish nursery survival.
Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech (August 2008 – December 2014)
Duties: Conducting field and laboratory work (in the USA and in Ghana), field logistics, supervision of entry of survey and field data, data analysis, manuscript-writing, conference presentations, writing exams, proctoring, grading, organizing class field trips, in-class or after-class discussions, and office hours.
Achievements: One fellowship award, one scholarship award, 15 conference presentations, and excellent academic standing throughout.
Doctoral Researcher/Fellow, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Africa Office (June 2011 – June 2012)
Duties: Under-studying Dr. Regassa Namara (Senior Research Economist) in research related to the reuse of wastewater in agriculture, preparing and giving a seminar to the institute on the profitability and adoption of best management practices on small-scale fish farms in Ghana
Achievements: Excellent review from Dr. Namara and from other officers at IWMI
Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Forest Resources Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Sunyani, Ghana (September 2007 – July 2008)
Duties: Supervising senior-year thesis projects, proctoring, and grading.
Achievements: Most graduated seniors now very well-employed as a result of continued encouragement from Ansah that their 3-year diploma degrees was as good as bachelor’s degrees.
Intern, Water Resources Commission, Densu River Basin Office, Ghana (June 2006 – August 2006)
Duties: Water quality monitoring / permitting, writing reports, creation of educational flyers on wise use of water resources, organising board meetings and taking meeting minutes.
Achievements: Excellent reviews from officers.
Intern, Water Resources Commission Head Office, Accra, Ghana (June 2004 – August 2004)
Duties: Water quality monitoring, writing reports, creation of educational flyers on wise use of water resources
Achievements: Excellent reviews from officers, and educational flyers created are still available in the commission’s library.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed
1. Ansah Y.B., and E.A. Frimpong (in press). Using model-based inference to select a predictive growth curve for farmed tilapia. North American Journal of Aquaculture.
2. Ansah Y.B., and E.A. Frimpong (Accepted). Impacts of the adoption of BMPs on social welfare: A case study of commercial floating feeds for pond culture of tilapia in Ghana. Cogent Food and Agriculture.
3. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and E.M. Hallerman. 2014. Genetically-improved tilapia strains in Africa: Potential benefits and negative impacts. Sustainability 6(6): 3697 - 3721.
4. Frimpong E.A., Ansah, Y.B., Amisah, S., Adjei-Boateng, D., Agbo N.W. and H. Egna. 2014. Effects of two environmental best management practices on pond water and effluent quality and growth of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Sustainability 6(2), 652-675.
5. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and S. Amisah, 2013. Characterization of potential effluents, and physio-chemical and microbial assessment of effluent-receiving waters in central Ghana. African Journal of Aquatic Science 38(2): 1 – 8.
6. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and S. Amisah. 2012. Biological assessment of aquaculture effects on effluent-receiving streams in Ghana using structural and functional composition of fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages. Environmental Management 50:166 – 180.
7. Ansah Y.B., and E.A. Frimpong (in review). Comparison of the profitability of alternative management practices for pond tilapia farms.
8. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A., Namara R.E. and G. A. Attu (in review). Characterization of the adoption of environmental best management practices in pond aquaculture.
9. Ansah Y.B., and E.A. Frimpong (in review). Impacts of aquaculture BMP adoption on loading of nutrients and sediment in Ghana.
Reports and Theses
10. Ansah Y.B. 2014. Enhancing profitability of pond aquaculture in Ghana through resource management and environmental best management practices. PhD. Dissertation, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech. October 2014.
11. Frimpong E.A., Ansah, Y.B., Amisah, S., Adjei-Boateng, D., Agbo, N.W., and G.A. Attu. 2014. Enhancing the profitability of small aquaculture operations in Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania through improved natural resource management and environmental best management practices. Final Investigation Report. AquaFish Innovation Lab, Corvallis, OR.
12. Frimpong, E.A., Ansah, Y.B., Agbo, N.W., Amisah, S., 2013. Experimental Pond Unit Assessment of AquaFish CRSP Research Sites in Ghana. Report submitted to Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Programme (United States Agency for International Development), Corvallis, Oregon.
13. Ansah Y.B. 2010. Characterization of pond effluents and biological and physicochemical assessment of receiving waters in Ghana. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech. April 2010.
14. Frimpong, E.A., Ansah, Y.B., and S. Amisah. 2009. Characterization of pond effluents and biological and physicochemical assessment of receiving waters in Ghana. Report submitted to Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Programme (United States Agency for International Development), Corvallis, Oregon.
15. Ansah Y.B. 2007. Relationship between wetland disturbance and characteristics of wetland flora. B.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
JOURNAL PEER-REVIEWS COMPLETED
1. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Journal
2. Environmental Science and Pollution Research Journal
3. Environmental Management
ORAL PRESENTATIONS / SEMINARS
1. Ansah Y.B. and E.A. Frimpong. 2014. Profitability of two pond aquaculture best management practices in Ghana. Paper presented at the Aquaculture America Conference, Seattle, Washington (February 2014).
2. E.A. Frimpong and Y.B Ansah. 2014. Using on-farm experiments to untangle the causes of low productivity of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus grown in ponds in Ghana. Paper presented at the Aquaculture America Conference, Seattle, Washington (February 2014).
3. Ansah Y.B. and E.A. Frimpong. 2013. The GIFT Tilapia strain in Africa: Potential ecological risks and economic benefits. Paper presented at the American Fisheries Society Meeting, Little Rock, Arkansas (September 2013).
4. Fynn I., Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A., Adjei-Boateng and S. Amisah. 2013. Direct and indirect effects of management practices on pond water quality and growth of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Paper presented at the American Fisheries Society Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota (August 2013).
5. Amsiah S., Adjei-Frimpong D., Frimpong E.A. and Y.B. Ansah. 2013. Effect of water re-use and feed type on the growth performance of Nile tilapia. Paper presented at the American Fisheries Society Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee (August 2013).
6. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and R. Namara. 2012. Characteristics of adopters of environmental best management practices in small-scale pond aquaculture. Paper presented at the Aquaculture 2013 Conference, Nashville, Tennessee (August 2013).
7. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and R. Namara. 2012. Characteristics of adopters of environmental best management practices in small-scale pond aquaculture. Paper presented at the Virginia Tech Graduate Student Symposium, Blacksburg, Virginia (March 2013).
8. Ansah Y.B. 2012. Profitability and adoption of best management practices on fish farms in Ghana. Seminar presented at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on conclusion of my internship, Accra, Ghana (June, 2012).
9. Ansah Y.B. and E.A. Frimpong. 2012. Comparison of the performance of growth models in farmed Tilapia. Paper presented at the American Fisheries Society Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota (August 2012).
10. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A., Adjei-Boateng and S. Amisah. 2012. Effects of two aquaculture best management practices on Tilapia growth. Paper presented at the Aquaculture America Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada (March 2012).
11. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A., Adjei-Boateng and S. Amisah. 2012. Effects of two aquaculture best management practices on Tilapia growth. Paper presented at the Virginia Tech Graduate Student Symposium, Blacksburg, Virginia (March 2012).
12. Ansah Y.B. 2012. Best management practices in fish farming; to adopt or not to adopt? Paper presented as part of the Virginia Tech Fish and Wildlife Graduate Student Association Seminar Series, Blacksburg, Virginia.
13. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and S. Amisah. 2010. Potential effluent quality and microbial levels in earthen ponds and receiving streams of Central Ghana. Paper presented at the World Aquaculture Society Triennial Meeting, San Diego, California (March 2010).
14. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and S. Amisah. 2010. Potential effluent quality and microbial levels in earthen ponds and receiving streams of Central Ghana. Paper presented at the Virginia Tech Graduate Student Association’s Research Symposium (March 2010).
15. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A. and S. Amisah. 2010. Relationship among management practices, pond water quality, and receiving stream integrity in Central Ghana. Paper presented at the World Aquaculture Society triennial meeting, San Diego, California (March 2010).
16. Ansah Y.B., Frimpong E.A., S. Amisah and G. Anane-Taabeah. 2010. Fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages in receiving streams in the vicinity of earthen ponds in Ghana. Paper presented at the World Aquaculture Society triennial meeting, San Diego, California (March 2010).
GUEST LECTURES
1. Fishes of the world: Ghana, Dr. Donald Orth’s Ichthyology (Virginia Tech) class (May 8, 2013).
2. Panel discussion on Challenges for conservation of fish and wildlife in various countries: Ghana, Dr. Steve McMullin’s Human Dimensions (Virginia Tech) class (September 24, 2012).
3. Field lecture on benthic macroinvertebrates, Dr. Carola Haas’ Field Biology (Virginia Tech) class (April 5, 2012).
4. Field lecture on benthic macroinvertebrates, Dr. Carola Haas’ Field Biology (Virginia Tech) class (April 8, 2011).
LEADERSHIP
Graduate Mentor, Fish and Wildlife Graduate Student Association, Virginia Tech (August 2010 – December 2014)
Duties: Advising and answering questions of new graduate students, and helping to make them feel welcome.
Achievements: Out of the five graduate students mentored, one is currently a lecturer, one is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate, two successfully graduated with their MS, and one is currently enrolled in the MS program.
Volunteer Judge, Environmental Science section, Virginia Junior Academy of Science meeting, Blacksburg, Virginia (May 2013)
Duties: Reviewing research papers written by oral presenters, and judging oral presentations
Achievement: Great rapport with section judging team in selecting best presentation and giving tips to all presenters.
PhD Representative for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Dean’s Graduate Students Council, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia Tech (August 2011 – May 2012)
Duties: Discussing and finding solutions to graduate student concerns in the college, and planning college events.
Achievements: Cordial interaction with fellow council members, and organization of the first ever seminar on graduate school applications for college’s seniors by the council.
President, Fish and Wildlife Graduate Student Association, Virginia Tech (August 2011 – August 2012)
Duties: Organization and chairing association meetings, representation of graduate students at faculty meetings
Achievements: Outstanding member award, all association programs achieved great reviews, the usual member apathy was non-existent during tenure, and the association resumed the then defunct peer mentor program
Vice-President, Fish and Wildlife Graduate Association, Virginia Tech (August 2010 – August 2011)
Duties: Fund-raising.
Achievement: The association made 100% more revenue than preceding year.
Treasurer, Fish and Wildlife Graduate Association, Virginia Tech (August 2009 – August 2010)
Duties: Book-keeping of association’s accounts, and collection of membership dues.
Achievement: Establishment of an efficient and friendly system to collect membership dues.
Editor-In-Chief, Renewable Natural Resources Students’ Association (RENARSA), KNUST (November 2004 – November 2005)
Duties, as head of editorial board: Publishing association’s annual magazine, and researching prevailing natural resource management issues for updating the association’s bulletin board on a weekly basis.
Achievement: First well-received magazine in many years
PROGRAMMING SKILLS
Experience with the following software/programs:
Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access)
GAMS
LINDO
Minitab
SAS/JMP
Stata
SPSS
@Risk
R
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
1. As trainer/doctoral research assistant for AquaFish Innovation Lab, was member of a team that trained fish farmers and government fisheries officers in Tanzania in August 2014.
2. As part of the AquaFish Innovation Lab in Ghana, organized the annual workshop on aquaculture best management practices, hosting over 100 fish farmers, government extension agents, professors, and students for three days each year (2011 – 2013).
3. As judge of the Virginia Junior Academy of Science meeting in Blacksburg, Virginia (May, 2013), reviewed written papers and judged presentations by high school students.
4. As field supervisor of the AquaFish Innovation Lab in Ghana, led a field crew on fishpond water sampling/fish farm outreaches to local aquaculture facilities (August 2008 – June 2012).
5. As graduate research assistant at Virginia Tech, created educative fliers on the impacts of fish-farm effluents on the water quality of streams for fish farmers in Ghana in 2011.
6. As member of VT-AFS Outreach Committee, embarked on education outreaches to elementary and high schools in Virginia (2008 – 2010).
7. As field co-ordinator of Guelph University- KNUST’s APERL project, went door-to-door with my field crew to educate local Ghanaian households on agroforestry interventions (February 2008 – March 2008).
8. As camp commandant of Pentecost Students’ and Associates (PENSA)’s annual village evangelism program, led a team of students on an evangelism/health awareness/social marketing tour of local communities in the Ashanti Region of Ghana (December 2006 – January 2007).
9. Was one of three creators, and a panellist, of a weekly environmental awareness radio program ‘Earth Watch’ on Focus FM station, Kumasi-Ghana (September 2006 – April 2007).
CERTIFICATIONS / TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
1. World Aquaculture Society
2. American Fisheries Society
3. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
4. Sustainable Aquaculture Research Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa (SARNISSA)
5. Virginia Tech Chapter of American Fisheries Society (VT-AFS)
6. United States Aquaculture Society
MAJOR AWARDS AND HONORS
1. Graduate Assistantship (Full), Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech (August 2008 – December 2014)
2. Outstanding Member, Fish and Wildlife Graduate Students Association, Virginia Tech (April 2012)
3. Invited Guest, World Food Prize award ceremony, Des Moines, Iowa (October 2011)
4. Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (Borlaug LEAP) Fellowship (March 2011)
5. International Student Scholarship, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech (April 2010)
6. First-Class Honors, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (June 2007 Congregation)
7. Unilever Undergraduate Scholarship (July 2004)
8. Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) Scholarship (August (2000)