Perhaps it was losing her mother as a young teenager that made Ugo Chijioke a resilient young woman who is keen to soar as a research officer. Her first name means “eagle” in Igbo, one of Nigeria’s official languages. Her father, who she refers to as a “one in a million dad”, retired as chief agricultural superintendant at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), so she virtually grew up within the institute. “I was looking for a career in which I could be innovative,” Chijioke says. “I know I’m good with things having to do with food, since that’s where my passion lies.”