Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde
School of Public & Environmental Affairs & Political Science
Indiana University

I was born on January 30, 1967 in Eruwa, Oyo State, Nigeria. After completing my elementary and high school education in 1988, I decided to follow a career in academia, especially in the area of socioeconomic development. This objective was premised on the need to gain what it takes to succeed in the profession, and the need to contribute my quota to the advancement of knowledge in the profession and the policy making process. My evolving dream took me eventually to the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria where I obtained the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Second Class, Upper Division in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (1992); and the Master of Science in Public Administration (1998).

My university training has provided me with an intellectual and policy-oriented landscape where I have been engaging in policy and research work in developing societies since 1995. My research and policy work revolves around environmental policy (including agricultural policy), comparative politics and institutional analysis in developing countries, especially African countries. I have done a number of research studies in Africa on forest administration, land conflicts and conflict resolution in agricultural communities, self- governing institutions, and quantitative analysis; and have published and presented papers at national and international conferences on some of these issues.

Before coming to the United States for a Ph.D. program in public policy at the Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana I used to work with the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and the Research Group on Local Institutions and Socioeconomic Development in Nigeria sponsored by the Ford Foundation between 1995 and 2000. Besides, I was a laureate of the CODESRIA’s 1999 Governance Institute, Dakar, Senegal, where I prepared and presented a paper on the taxing power of Nigerian local governments and its implications for self-governance. I was also involved as a resource person in the First Regional Workshop on Remote Sensing Applications organized in April 2000 by African Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (English) affiliated to the United Nations. I am currently a 2003 Compton Peace Fellow, a PhD Candidate in Public Policy program, and a Fellow of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.