Baldwyn Torto

Torto was the recipient of the 2020 icipe@50 Achievement Award, the Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology of the Entomological Society of America in 2019. In 2018, he was awarded Louis Malassis International Prize for Food and Agriculture for Outstanding Career in Agricultural Development by the Agropolis Foundation in France, and 2017, he was honoured by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (AGRO-division, American Chemical Society) with the Journal Article of the Year prize. That same year, he was named by the South African Department of Science and Technology as one of the top 50 scientists in Africa.

Torto has delivered many plenary and keynote presentations at various conferences, some of these conferences include; International Society of Chemical Ecology, the XXV 2016 International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, Florida, 13th Arbovirus and Mosquito Workshop and NE1443 Regional Project Workshop, USA, and the General assembly of the African Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, and was once the Councillor for the International Society of Chemical Ecology.

He became a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2013, and a fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 2016.

Following his postdoctoral research at the University of Maine, Torto joined ICIPE as a Scientist in 1991. In 2000, he became a Senior Scientist, and a Rothamsted International Fellow at the Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom. A year later, he was made a visiting scientist at the USDA/ARS-Centre for Medical, Agriculture and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida. He worked in this capacity until 2006. A year later, returned to ICIPE as a Research Leader and Principal Scientist. He was responsible for the Behavioural and Chemical Ecology Unit (BCEU). Torto works with the University of Pretoria as an extraordinary Professor. He serves on the board of trustees of the JRS Biodiversity Foundation as its president.

Torto was born in Accra in 1955. He obtained his bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Ghana in 1979. He was awarded his master's degree in 1982, and his doctorate degree in Organic Chemistry all from the University of Ghana. His research work was in insect chemical ecology and conducted at ICIPE from 1985 to 1988. He had his Postdoctoral research at the University of Maine, Orono, USA from 1989 to 1991.