Charlotte Ndiribe's career path to becoming a plant ecologist. Charlotte talks about finding a love for botany after a setback and making her way in a sector without role models. Career Beginnings Tell us about your current role I am an Associate Professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Primarily, I am a plant ecologist, with speciality in both phylogenetic and pollution ecology. Basically, I investigate how environmental variables affect plant populations and communities. Career Beginnings When you were 15, what job did you want and who did you ask for advice?At 15 years old, I had passed through a lot of dentists. Because I admired their level of professionalism, somewhere in my head, I thought that was the profession for me.Did you have an interest in the environment at this time?The truth is that I was slightly conflicted at this point, because I was in my last year of high (secondary) school and was soon headed to the university. There were a range of courses before me, but I was sure I loved biology. Because of the dental thing in my head, I assumed it was human biology. I didn't know anything about environmental biology. It all changed when I couldn't get into dentistry, but got into botany instead. What were your first steps in starting your career? My first steps into plant ecology started with getting enrolled in a botany course at a big public university. It was against my will, and painful at that time. I had no idea it would turn out to be such a blessing. By the end of my course, I was wondering if I could return to my childhood and start the love for plants and nature from there. Career Path and Skills What does your career path look like? I am aware that as a young female growing up in Nigeria, my career path was rough at the start. It felt as if I was living in the dark with regards the absence of foundational information, and there were no role models. Back in the early 2000s, when I had just started my degree programme, the internet was just coming to us, and later mobile phones. It implied a lot of the information about anything was either in a library or traditional media. This was limiting. If you think about it now, you will understand from my viewpoint that I hardly knew any women scientists, how much more botanists or environmental scientists from whom I could draw inspiration.What skills were important for you to develop in your career? There were many soft and hard skills I required. At the start, I concentrated on acquiring hard skills, as most people do at this stage. Above all, knowledge skills were most important for me. I have used them and still continue to do so daily in my line of work as a university lecturer and researcher. This article was published on Monday 19 October 2026
