Full Name

Teshome Soromessa (PhD)

Education attend

·         PhD and Post Doc (University of Vienna), M.Sc. and BSc. (Addis Ababa University).

·         Higher Diploma Program (Addis Ababa University), award  Post Graduate Diploma in Teacher Education.

·         Post Graduate Diploma in Higher Education Studies. Award from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.

·         Certificate of Competency for Teaching Higher Education Institutions (Addis Ababa University). Aaward, Post Graduate Diploma.

·         Certificate in Qualification Frameworks in Higher Education.  

·        Certificate in the Use of Geographic Technologies for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture.

Academic rank

Professor (2017) (Professor of Environmental Science)

Working for AAU Since

October 2003 (Advised/co over 100 MSc and PhD students, published over 140 publications)

Administrative positions held if any/past and present

·         Board member for Kotebe Meteroploitan University (January 2019 – now),

·         Deputy Board Chairman for Addis Ababa City Green Development Agency (September 2018-Jan 2019),

·         Board member for Addis Ababa City Rivers, Riversides and Climate Change Adaptaion Project (December 2015 –June 2018),

·         Director of the Project called Addis Ababa City Rivers, Riversides and Climate Change Adaptaion Project under the Cenetr for Environmental Science (Dec 2015 –June 2018),

·         Chairman of the Center for Environmental Science (March 2013-June 2018),

·         Worked as Coordinator of Graduate Programs in the College running and monitoring research grants of many graduate students (PhD and Masters),

·         Worked as a Strategic Planning Team for the College,

·         Worked as College’s Research and Consultancy Committee,

·         Coordinated a National DelPHE Project Entitled “Development of Qualification Frame Works in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions”, representing Addis Ababa University,

·         Lead a National EPA Project entitled “A Program for the Professional Development of Staff involved in Curriculum Delivery in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions”

·         Worked as a tutor for the Higher Diploma Program in the College,

·         Worked as a member of the housing committee of the College,  and

·         As a means to tackle climate change, chaired afforestation program held by the College in July 2007 around Sebeta.

Awards ——— –

Recognitions——-

Memberships of international bodies/ journals- editorial roles initiatives etc.

Awards (some of them):

·         CIRCLE project in collaboration with over 150 sub-Saharan African Universities, funded by UK for University of the Common Wealth,

·         Award from RCMRD/ SERVIR-Africa Grants Program for the study of allometric equation for biomass estimation of indigenous trees/shrubs of Ethiopia. I have worked on carbon stock research of many Ethiopian Forests where CO2 equivalent has been determined for which I have received MyCO-Servir-NASA Medal Award.

·         Award from Addis Ababa University for the study of Floral and Fungal Diversity of Southwestern Ethiopia.

·         Award from Addis Ababa University for the study of Simien Mounatins National Park.

·         Award from Addis Ababa University for the study of Floristic composition and structure of Egdu Forest.

·         Award from the College of Education, Addis Ababa University for Regeneration and Soil Seed bank Studies of 15 Tree species.

·         Award from Österreichischer Austauschdienst for Biosytematic and Ecological Study of Commiphora Jacq. in NE and E Tropical Africa.

·         Award from Savannah Woodland Project for An Ecological Study of the lowland Vegetation of Key Afer-Shala Luqa and South West of Lake Chamo.

·         Memberships (some of them):

·         Association of Ethiopians Educated in Austria since April 2009. First President and founder of the association.

·         Association for Development and Biodiversity Conservation. President of the Board and founder of the Association, since January 2004.

·         Mountain Forum since February 2003. Address

·          www.mountainforum.org/resources/atlas/memberoutput.cfm?gislink1=70.

·         Society of Australian Systematic Biologist since August 2002 web sites: visit http://www.sasb.org.au/members.html.

·         Society for Economic Botany from December 2001 to December 2004.

·         Association pour l’étude taxonomique de la flore d’Afrique tropicale, (AETFAT) since October 2002.

·         Biological Society of Ethiopia since September 1998, membership number 0342.

·         Journals Referee:

·         Associate Editor for SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Sciences

·        Reviewer for African Journal of Ecology, Journal of biodiversity, Ethiopian Journal of Biodiversity, Momona Journal, Journal of Forestry Research, Ethiopian Journal of Biological Sciences, Star: Journal of Science, Technology and Arts, etc.

Address

Campus: Arat Kilo

Building name: Post Graduate Building

Floor number: 1st

Office room no.:  105

Office Tel: +251-11-6551910

Mobile: +251-91-1631119

University email ID: teshome.soromessa@aau.edu.et  

Alternative email ID: soromessa@yahoo.com

Research interest/not more than hundred words

·         Modelling of Ecosystem Services

·         Carbon sequestration of forests and woodlands

·         Allometeric model development for indigenous trees and shrubs of Ethiopia

·         Community and ecosystem ecology mainly dealing with forests and woodlands.

·         Plant systematic/Molecular systematic of plants and their evolutionary aspects

·        The biology of individual plants, floral biology, reproductive, pollination, etc.

Publications on reputable journals

Some Selected Publications

·         Wondimagegn Mengist, Teshome Soromessa and Gudina Legese (2020). Ecosystem services research in mountainous regions: A systematic literature review on current knowledge and research gaps. Science of the Total Environment 702 (2020) 134581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134581

·         Abreham Berta Aneseyee, Teshome Soromessa & Eyasu Elias (2019). The effect of land use/land cover changes on ecosystem services valuation of Winike watershed, Omo Gibe basin, Ethiopia. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 25(8): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2019.1675139

·         Getaneh Gebeyehu, Teshome Soromessa, Tesfaye Bekeleb and Demel Teketay (2019). Species composition, stand structure, and regeneration status of tree species in dry Afromontane forests of Awi Zone, northwestern Ethiopia. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability ISSN: 2096-4129 (Print) 2332-8878 (Online).

·         https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2019.1664938

·         Getaneh Gebeyehu, Teshome Soromessa, Tesfaye Bekele, Demel Teketay (2019).   

·         Plant diversity and communities along environmental, harvesting and grazing gradients in dry Afromontane forests of Awi Zone, northwestern Ethiopia. Taiwania 64(3): 307-320, 2019.  http://tai2.ntu.edu.tw/taiwania/abstract.php…

·         Wondimagegn Mengist and Teshome Soromessa (2019). Assessment of forest ecosystem service research trends and methodological approaches at global level: A meta-analysis. Environmental Systems Research 8:22, 1-18.  

·          https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-019-0150-4

·         Admassu Addi, Sebesebe Demissew, Teshome Soromessa and Zemede Asfaw (2019). Carbon Stock of the Moist Afromontane Forest in Gesha and Sayilem Districts in Kaffa Zone: An Implication for Climate Change Mitigation. Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography, 9(1): 1-8. http://DOI:10.4172/2157-7625.1000261

·          Damena Edae Daba and Teshome Soromessa (2019). Allometric equations for aboveground biomass estimation of Diospyros abyssinica (Hiern) F. White tree species. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 1-12.

·         https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2019.1591169 

·         Getaneh Gebeyehu, Teshome Soromessa, Tesfaye Bekele and Demel Teketay (2019). Carbon stocks and factors affecting their storage in dry Afromontane forests of Awi Zone, northwestern Ethiopia. Journal of Ecology and Environment 43(7): 1-18.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-019-0105-8

·         Hamere Yohannes and Teshome Soromessa (2019). Integration of Remote Sensing, GIS and MCDM for Land Capability Classification in Andit Tid Watershed, Ethiopia. Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 1-13.

·         https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-019-00949-z

·         Abyot Dibaba, Teshome Soromessa and Bikila Workineh (2019). Carbon stock of the various carbon pools in Gerba-Dima moist Afromontane forest, South-western Ethiopia. Carbon Balance and Management, 14 (1): 1-10.

·          https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-019-0116-x.

Teaching Philosophy

Albert Einstein’s quatation for teaching goes “Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty.”  These valuable gifts are offered by a teacher whom I view as some one playing a significant role in the development of a young person’s life. When I look back over my life, I find that each milestone is the result of the influence of someone whom I have been studying/working with. It is these points in my life that I consider as turning points in the development of the person I have become today.

The gift offered via instruction has to empower the students to learn by her/him self about any topic within the particular field of knowledge and to apply the skills derived from it for fostering in the future development of society. Thus, my teaching philosophy is stated to provide the tools of cognition in learning, to value and to apply human knowledge in the future endeavors.

The scientific process involves making careful observations, asking questions, thinking of reasonable predictions, and considering ways the question could be solved or approached. I feel it is important that my students have a basic understanding of how the scientific process works and recognize their ability to use it to make biological connections/environmental connections about the world in which they live.

I employ a wide variety of active-learning techniques (students-centered approach) in my classes that could make the lesson more interactive. Because Biological concepts/Environmental concpets can be very concrete and practical in nature, I include inquiry-based, hands-on activities that allow students to make their own discoveries and connections. I encourage an open learning environment (student-centered) in which students feel comfortably sharing their ideas and working collaboratively to make discoveries. I often use class discussions that involve posing problems and asking questions to help students draw out the take-home concepts learned in class or laboratory. When teaching new learning strategies, I verbally describe the strategy, allow students to exercise and walk around to answer questions, and follow-up with small to big groups and class discussions. To this end, specific goals of a lesson (that encompasses knowledge, comprehension, analytical and synthetic) and the use of various learning resources (live objects, specimens, modules, etc.) shall be set and prepared.

Once the lesson is offered, it is also equally important that methods of evaluations are clearly explained and appropriately designed for the way the content material is taught. One of the most important things I teach is critical thinking. Because I give emphasis on conceptual thinking and problem solving, rather than memorizing, I design evaluations of student performance accordingly. Thus, I use wide varieties of combination of fact-recall and higher-level concept questions on graded assignments and exams. I often pose a biological/environmental problem and ask students to form hypotheses, make predictions, and design an experiment they could use to test their ideas about the issue. In an attempt to improve the effectiveness of my instruction, I use several forms of student evaluation, of which continous assessmnet is the major one. At the end of the lesson, I often ask students to pin point things they have learned, ask oral questions and raise questions as to how they apply the knowledge in their daily life activities when necessary. This provides me with immediate information on the where about of my students. I use midterm evaluations to identify activities that enhance student learning. In turn, I can adjust my module outline and techniques to improve both teaching and learning of the subject with the amendment of the specific goals set for it.