Ihuoma Chizaram Okwuonu was raised in an urbanized environment in Umuahia in southeastern Nigeria. Observing her parents influenced her—her father was a lawyer while her mother was a teacher. “We are career-minded people, keen on passing along information,” she says. “My desire was to build an enterprise that provides a commodity for the people.” This led Okwuonu to pursue a career in agriculture; she developed her scientific skills through studying microbiology and biotechnology at the university. While pursuing her doctorate degree, Okwuonu got a job as a research scientist in the NRCRI biotechnology program. Here, she was mentored by her first supervisor, who encouraged her to venture into genetic modification. Okwuonu is in the process of completing her PhD in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture.