Olubukola Oluranti Babalola (Pr.Sci.Nat, MASSAF, FASLP, FTWAS, FAS, FAAS, FISC, FRSB) a B2 NRF-rated scientist & an MBA graduate is a Professor & Principal Investigator at the North-West University, South Africa, & an Honorary Visiting Professor at Imperial College London. She serves as Vice-President of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) & Foreign Secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS). A former Research Director, Head of Dept & Vice-President of Org for Women in Science (OWSD), she earned her PhD through fellowships from IITA and OWSD, followed by postdoctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and the University of the Western Cape. With over 22 years of expertise in rhizosphere metagenomics, she sits on several editorial boards and serves as an international advisor. She delivered her professorial inaugural lecture in 2018 and is an AAAS-TWAS Science Diplomacy alumnus. She holds more than 56 professional certificates from institutions including UC Berkeley, the University of Mauritius, Bradford University, and NMU. Her numerous awards include being a finalist at GenderInSITE 2020 and SAWISA 2024. A dedicated mentor, she has supervised 37 PhD and 27 MSc graduates. She has over 450 publications, an h-index of 88, & 38,000 citations. Her international experience spans the Americas, Asia, Europe & Oceania. Her recent Springer book is Food Security and Safety: Africa’s Perspective. She is ranked #1 in Africa for Soil Science & Plant Nutrition.