Dr. Carolyn Tyhra Kumasi is a visionary biologist and ardent environmentalist, and perhaps somewhat of an accidental advocate. This young scientist is conducting vital research on soil and water conservation to inform public policies affecting rural women—a bend in the career path upon which she initially embarked. A gifted researcher, Kumasi obtained her PhD in 2010 at the age of 28, and began lecturing at KNUST. But she couldn’t forget the community members she had worked with during her doctoral research examining the impact of land use change on water quality along the Barekese catchment area. The Barekese reservoir provides more than 80 percent of the total public pipe-borne water for Ghana’s second-largest city, Kumasi, which is home to 2.5 million people. During the past two decades, persistent degradation of the watershed has raised concerns about deteriorating water quality.