Meet Ibrahim, PhD Environmental Sciences Student

About Ibrahim Mohammed

Ibrahim Mohammed is an international graduate student in environmental sciences. He is passionate about soil science and finding a sustainable solution for food production. Ibrahim volunteers with the Corteva Agricultural Sciences Symposium and works as a teaching assistant (TA). He plans to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship after graduation.

Program: PhD Environmental Sciences
Hometown: Kaduna, Nigeria

What did you study for your undergraduate degree? 

Bachelor’s in Agriculture and M.Sc. in Soil Science from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.

Why did you decide to pursue graduate studies at the University of Guelph? Did your undergrad experience shape your decision to further your studies?

I chose University of Guelph since I was interested in the goal of the project. I decided to apply to the program and when I was offered the opportunity, I accepted it. I did not know about the school or city until I began looking for a PhD position.

My motivation to pursue graduate studies stems from my desire to find sustainable solution to food production. The major threat to food production is soil degradation. According to Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the world will run out of topsoil by the year 2080 due to soil degradation. What does this mean for food production given that the soil is and will remain the main source of human nutrition? This gnawing question has kept me on my toes and has motivated me to find an answer.  

What is your research focus? 

My research is assessing the influence of the chemical properties of various forms of manure on the molecular structure of soil organic matter. My research aims to see how differences in their chemical forms affect sustainable production of grain crops in Ontario. 

How have you found ways to get involved as a grad student? 

Due to the pandemic most of my involvements have been virtual. I completed my first year remotely and arrived to Canada in May 2021. However, I have been able to meet people virtually and was part of the organizing committee of the 2021 Corteva Agricultural Sciences Symposium. When campus re-opened in the fall of 2021, I was a Teaching Assistant (TA) in Turf Soil Principles (DTM*1300) and will be continuing this semester.

How has your graduate program experience been different from your undergrad experience? 

The virtual nature of my graduate studies makes it different from anything I have experienced before. However, the most important experience I have had is the freedom to take my project in the direction I am convinced will answer the research question. Of course, this freedom comes with huge responsibility. It requires critiquing information from the point of “childlike inquiry”. It requires questioning assumptions I have taken as given. It requires asking myself repeatedly: do I know what I think I know; or am I imposing my biases and interpretation upon a neutral observation? I think this experience brings one directly in contact with that spirit of scientific inquiry upon which our advancement as a race is based. What is more, this experience brings one to the front seat of the discourse on the most important questions that gnaw at society today. Above all else, it affords one the opportunity to contributes one’s voice.  

Where are your favourite spots in Guelph?

I haven’t been able to explore Guelph very much. Since I arrived there’s been one restriction or the other. However, I love cinemas. So, the cinema at Pergola Commons is a favorite spot. I also like to go to the Indigo Bookstore at the Stone Mall.

What do you find most challenging about your program?

The most challenging thing about my area of study is that the object of study (soil organic matter) is not well characterized. In fact, no one knows what the structure of soil organic matter is. Every instrument used to investigate matter has a limit of what it can see. And with respect to soil organic matter, scientists have used the available instruments to their limit, yet they cannot see the structure of soil organic matter directly. This means that we can only try to see soil organic matter indirectly. And until we see soil organic matter clearly- and know what it looks like structurally- we cannot have a sustainable solution on how to manage it. This means that a solution to sustainably reverse soil degradation remains at bay. 
 
Despite these challenges, I feel highly elated pursuing this line of inquiry. Because, in trying to answer my research question, I must refer to fundamental chemical and physical laws. I must work from those laws upwards through progressive elaboration. What this means is that I come directly in contact with those features in the world of experience that caused fundamental laws to be formulated in the first place. This makes it easier to represent my research inquiry to my myself without the heavy spectacles of layers of conceptual interpretations. And by doing so I could engage at the level of the great minds in science and share a profound feeling with the great men of science whose names I have only held in awe.  

What are some free-time activities that make you happy, or relieves stress?

I am an avid cyclist. Between July and October 2021, I cycled over 1400km. I stopped when it got too cold to be on a bike. Remember, this is my first winter. So, a little cold is a big deal for me! 

Also, I write poetry. In my free time I work on my anthology of poems which I hope to publish soon. Other times, I relax by reading fiction or listening to audiobooks and watch soccer.

What are your plans or goals after graduation?

I fancy being a professor. The typical next step in this direction would be a post-doctoral fellowship after graduation.

What advice would you give to an undergrad student considering graduate school?

I am not sure what that advise would be, however I will share a passage from Dave Ellis’s book, Becoming a Master Student:

"Long ago, before the advent of printing presses, televisions, and computers, people educated themselves by conversing with one another. Students in ancient Athens were often called peripatetic (a word that means “walking around”) because they were frequently seen strolling around the city, engaged in heated philosophical debate. Since then, the debate has deepened and broadened. The world’s finest scientists and artists have joined voices in a conversation that spans centuries and crosses cultures. This conversation is about the nature of truth and beauty, knowledge and compassion, good and evil—ideas that form the very basis of human society. Robert Hutchins, former president of the University of Chicago, called this exchange the “great conversation.” By studying this conversation, we take on the most basic human challenges: coping with death and suffering, helping create a just global society, living with meaning and purpose. Our greatest thinkers have left behind tangible records. You’ll find them in libraries, concert halls, museums, and scientific laboratories across the world. Through [graduate] education, you gain a front-row seat for the great conversation—and an opportunity to add your own voice." 

This passage gave me a justification to continue in graduate school. I hope it serves as a piece of advice for the undergraduate considering graduate school.

What or who is your greatest inspiration? Why?

It’s hard to pick one. I have had a lot of inspirations over the years. Presently, I have found a lot of inspiration in the book by Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man. I have read this book repeatedly. I have found a lot of inspiring passages in the book.

What's one fun fact about yourself?

I am a collector of currencies.