About Barbara Amoah, PhD, PMP

My path into science began in Ghana, where I earned my BS in Agriculture at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). A UK Commonwealth Scholarship carried me to the University of Greenwich in England for an MS in Natural Resources, before I completed my PhD in Entomology at Kansas State University in 2016. My dissertation research on monitoring the ham mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, earned me the Fred Clute Scholarship for Research in Integrated Pest Management and several awards from the Entomological Society of America. I was also named a Fellow of the Borlaug Institute on Global Food Security at Purdue University.

For the first decade of my career, I worked as an applied entomologist across four universities: Kansas State University, South Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro, leading research on stored-product pest management, integrated pest management, pollinator ecology, and biological control. That work produced 15+ peer-reviewed publications, two patent applications, and dozens of conference presentations, and it took me from grain elevators and ham-aging rooms to cowpea and corn fields. What kept me there wasn’t the data alone. It was growing up watching crops and stored grain in Ghana lost to pests and wanting to be the person who could do something about it.

Along the way, I noticed that the best research ideas don’t always get funded and that pulled me toward research administration and grant strategy. As a Scientific Consultant and Grant Writing Specialist, I have led proposal development for universities, startups, and research organizations across agriculture, engineering, and medical innovation, helping secure more than $30 million in non-dilutive funding from federal agencies including NIH, NSF, USDA, DOE, and ARPA-H.

Today, I’m an Adjunct Professor at Unity Environmental University, where I teach eco-literacy, climate-smart agriculture, and integrated pest management. I’m also a PMP-certified project manager, currently pursuing an Executive MBA at UNC Wilmington, proof that I’m still as curious about the business of science as I am about the science itself.

Service & Leadership

I’ve served as Secretary and Treasurer of the International Association of Black Entomologists, and I currently serve on the Alumni Advisory Panel of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, board member of STEM Generation, Inc., and the Award Selection Committee for The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. I review for five entomology journals and serve as a grant reviewer for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. In 2025, I secured Commonwealth Alumni funding to bring community-driven pest control solutions to corn farmers in Ghana, work that reflects what continues to drive me: using science, and the resources to fund it, in service of the people who need it most.