Student Researcher of the year 2024

Mr Shadrack Kibet from the Department of Physical Sciences graduated with MSc Chemistry in September 2024. He won the Student Researcher of the Year 2024 for his thesis entitled

“An integrative study on wood-boring beetle larvae: Nutritional properties, gut microbiota and fungal bioactive compounds” He also received a certificate of recognition from the National Research Fund (NRF) where his work was ranked 3^rd in Kenya during the 2024 National Research Festival in the Poster category.

Thesis Supervisors:

1.	Dr. Mark Kimani	University of Embu
2.	Dr. Cynthia Mudalungu	International Centre of Insects Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) and
3	Dr. Chrysantus Tanga	International Centre of Insects Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)

Publications

Kibet, S., Kimani, N. M., Mwanza, S. S., Mudalungu, C. M., Santos, C. B., & Tanga, C. M. (2024). Unveiling the Potential of Ent-Kaurane Diterpenoids: Multifaceted Natural Products for Drug Discovery. Pharmaceuticals, 17(4), 510.
Kibet, S., Mudalungu, C. M., Ochieng, B. O., Mokaya, H. O., Kimani, N. M., & Tanga, C. M. (2024). Nutritional composition of edible wood borer beetle larvae in Kenya. Plos one, 19(6), e0304944.
Achuoth, M. P., Mudalungu, C. M., Ochieng, B. O., Mokaya, H. O., Kibet, S., Maharaj, V. J., … & Tanga, C. M. (2024). Unlocking the Potential of Substrate Quality for the Enhanced Antibacterial Activity of Black Soldier Fly against Pathogens. ACS omega, 9(7), 8478-8489.
Kibet, S., Mudalungu, C. M., Kimani, N. M., Makwatta, J. O., Kabii, J., Sevgan, S., … & Tanga, C. M. (2024). Unearthing Lactococcus lactis and Scheffersomyeces symbionts from edible wood-boring beetle larvae as a bio-resource for industrial applications. BMC microbiology, 24(1), 282.