Mustapha Olawuni

Mustapha Olawuni

Mustapha Olawuni is a PhD candidate at Tennessee State University. He earned his Masters Degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in Plant Science at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University. He is interested in the intersection of crop production and climate change.

Mustapha's research focuses on the potential application of bacterial endophytes as a biological control agent for plant growth promotion and also in the management of diseases in crops.

He is a recipient of the FADAMA III Additional Financing grant supported by World Bank and Nigeria Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Presently, Mustapha has been nominated to be part of the Inaugural World Bank HBCU 2023 Summer Institute at Washington D.C. as part of the contribution made with Professor Blair and College of Agriculture on climate change impact and assessment in Tennessee State University

Mustapha is the winner of the World Bank's blog competetion with his contribution Fostering development through small-scale dams in Lake Chad (worldbank.org)

Graduation - 2023

Mustapha Olawuni with classmate Mustapha Olawuni Graduation with Certificate Mustapha Olawuni

 

South by Southwest Conference - 2024

Feed 4 Peace, a digital marketplace connecting US food retailers with food and agriculture distributors in Nigeria, is Mustapha's innovation team which was part of the 3 selected entrepreneurs in the inaugural I-Corps National Science Foundation cohort to attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin Texas. In this inaugural cohort, 3 of the 10 teams from TSU were selected to participate in an immersive customer discovery experience where participants learn the fundamentals of business modeling and how to understand and communicate their innovation’s value in the marketplace with the support of a team of trained instructors and mentors. 

Mustapha at South by Southwest conference Mustapha in Austin Texas for South by Southwest Conference

The program, funded by a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) Hubs Grant, under the directorate for Technology Innovation, and Partnerships, aims to accelerate the translation of research from the lab to the market. Course content and programming are supported by the Mid-South Hub, an 8-University Entrepreneurship Ecosystem led by Vanderbilt University.

Group picture at South by Southwest Conference Conference group picture

Successful completion of this program affords participant the opportunity to apply for the National I-Corps™ program and $50,000 in funding, as well as SBIR/STTR and other funding programs.

Interview