Jesse Sey AYIVOR, holds a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra and Master of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the Ohio University, Athens, USA. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana, and has over 20 years of research experience in environmental management and nature conservation. Jesse is very versatile and has carried out research in variety of areas including: human dimensions of wildlife management, mangrove ecosystems management, nature conservation and livelihoods, climate change adaptation and policy, disaster risk management in flood-prone areas, evaluation of protected area management effectiveness, and environmental and social effects of small scale mining in Ghana. He has over 34 peer reviewed publications and several other scientific reports. He has a strong community mobilization drive and had engaged with communities in mangrove rehabilitation in the Lower Volta Basin and in woodlots establishment elsewhere in Ghana. He has engaged also in other collaborative projects with national and international partners over the past years. Jesse has 15 years of experience in teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses in Regional Geography of Africa, Forest Resource Management, Natural Resource Conservation, and Population, Urbanization Environment Studies.

Educational History 

• PhD. Environmental Science. University of Ghana, Legon, July, 2012. 
• M. Sc. Environmental Studies. Environmental Planning & Policy Track, Ohio University, Athens, March 2007
• M. Phil, Geography and Resource Development (Agricultural Geography) University of Ghana, Legon, June 1999, 
• B.A. (Hons) Geography and Resource Development (with Linguistics) UG., Legon, June 1991 

Research Interest

• Forest and Wildlife Resources Management 
• Nature conservation and local livelihood conflicts
• Land use / Land Cover Change in the Volta Basin of Ghana
• Climate Change Policy
• Mangrove ecosystems management

Current Research Projects  

• Managing small-scale mining: Assessing the potential for a more environmentally sustainable and socially-inclusive small-scale gold mining industry in Ghana
• Protected area management and local livelihoods

Recent Activities

• Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) / Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA). (DFID/IDRC). (2014-2019) Ghana Team Member (2014 to 2018)
• Dynamic Drivers of Diseases in Africa Project: Bats and Henipaviruses, Ghana Case Study, (2012 to 2015).
• WPII (ii) – Water Resources and Water Management Thematic Focus under the project Building Capacity to meet the Climate Change Challenge (B4C) – Ghana, led by the University of Ghana, funded by the Open Society Institute (2010-2013).
• Understanding the Findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007 - Integrating Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Development Planning. World Meteorological Organisation (WMO); Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); United Nations Environment Program (UNEP); Global Change SysTem for Analysis Research and Training (START); Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA) of the University of Dar es Salaam; University of Ghana (UG); and the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS). (2009-2012).

Pipeline Projects 

• Conservation and management perspective of bats in Ghana
• The role of taboos in wildlife conservation in Ghana
• Perceptions and attitudes of fringe communities in protected area management In Ghana

List of Publications 

Book Chapter

1. Ayivor, J. S. Ofori, B. D. & Nyametso J. K. (2017). Effectiveness of protected area financing as a management tool. A case study of three protected areas in Ghana. In: Nukpezah, D. Mensah, A. Ofori, B.D., Rapp B. & Gomez J.M. Dialogue on Sustainability and Environmental Management. International Conference Feb. 15-16, 2017. University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. Shaker Verlag, Aachen. Pp 255-268.
2. Ayivor, J. S. and Ofori, B. D. (2017). Impacts of hydrological changes of the Volta River on livelihoods: Lessons for re-operation and re-optimization of the Volta dams. In: Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y, Ampomah, Y.B., & Ofosu, B. A., (eds). Dams, development and downstream communities: Implications for re-optimising the operation of the Akosombo and Kpong dams in Ghana. Digibooks Gh. Ltd., Tema, Ghana. Pp 63-93.
3. Nukpeza, D., Pabi, O., Ofori, B.D., Ayivor, J. S., & Gordon, C. (2017). A review of benefits of environmental and livelihood flows of dams re-operation and re-optimization. In: Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y, Ampomah, Y.B., & Ofosu, B. A., (eds). Dams, development and downstream communities: Implications for re-optimising the operation of the Akosombo and Kpong dams in Ghana. Digibooks Gh. Ltd., Tema, Ghana. Pp. 137-155.
4. Ofori, B. D., & Ayivor, J. S., (2017). Institutional capacity and management of the Volta lake shores and the lower Volta River channel. In: Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y, Ampomah, Y.B., & Ofosu, B. A., (eds). Dams, development and downstream communities: Implications for re-optimising the operation of the Akosombo and Kpong dams in Ghana. Digibooks Gh. Ltd., Tema, Ghana. Pp. 321-340.
5. Ersing, R.L., Ayivor, J. S., Alhassan, O., Caruson, K. (2016). Ecological Social Work in a Developing Nation: Africa. In McKinnon, J., Alston, M. (eds) Ecological Social Work: Towards Sustainability Palgrave Macmillan
6. Ersing, R., Alhassan, O. Ayivor, J.S. and. Caruson, K. (2015). Enhancing Hazard Resilience among Impoverished Urban Communities in Ghana: The Role of Women as Catalysts for Improvement. In Filion, P., Sands, G., Skidmore, M. Cities at Risk: Planning for and Recovering from Natural Disasters. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Surrey.  Pp 15-30
7. Caruson, K., Alhassan, O. Ayivor, J.S. and Ersing, R. (2014). Disaster and Development in Ghana: Improving Disaster Resiliency at the Local Level in Kapucu, N. & Liou K.T. (eds). Disaster and Development: Examining Global Issues and Cases. Springer International Publishing. Switzerland. XIX. Pp 273-288.
8. Ayivor, J.S. and Vordzogbe, V.V. (2013). The Volta Lake system in Ghana. An overview of the physical attributes, resource management and environmental change. In Owusu, G., Agyei-Mensah S., and Attua, E. M. Selected Readings in Geography: Essays in Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the University of Ghana. University of Ghana/Woeli Publishing Services, Accra. Pp. 193-209.
9. Gordon, C., Nukpeza, D., Tweneboah-Lawson, E., Ofori, B.D., Yirenya-Taiwiah, D., Pabi, O., Ayivor, J.S., Koranteng, S., Darko, D. and Mensah, A.M. (2013). West Africa – Water Resources Vulnerability Using a Multidimensional Approach: Case Study of Volta Basin. Climate Vulnerability: Understanding and Addressing Threats to Essential Resources. Elsevier Inc., Academic Press, 283–309.
10. Diop, E.S., Gordon, C., Semesi, A.K., Soumare, A., Diallo, N., Guisse, A., Ayivor, J.S. (2002). Mangroves of Africa. In Drude de Lacerda, L. (ed), Mangrove Ecosystems: Function and Management, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New New York pp 63-121.

Refereed Journal Paper

1. Lawson, E.T., Ayivor, J.S., Ohemeng, F., Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu. (2018) Avoiding bites and scratches? Understanding the public health implication of human-bat interactions in Ghana. Zoonoses and Public Health  2018 1-9. DOI:10.1111/zph.12540
2. Ohemeng, F., Ayivor, J.S, Lawson, E.T., Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu. (2018) Local classifications of fever and treatment sought among populations at risk of zoonotic diseases in Ghana. PLoS One 13(8). e0201526. https://doi.org/10.137/journal.pone.0201526
3. Ayivor J.S, Ofori, B.D., Pabi, O., and Gordon, C. (2017). Understanding the smallholder farmer’s crop production choices in the forest-savanna transition zone of Ghana. Science and Development  1(1), 14-28.
4. Ayivor, Jesse S., Fidelia Ohemeng, Elaine Tweneboah Lawson, Linda Waldman,, Melissa Leach, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu. (2017). Living with bats: the case of Golokuati Township in the Volta Region of Ghana. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Volume 2017, Article ID 5938934, 11 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/5938934
5. Ohemeng, F.,Lawson, E.T., Ayivor, J., Leach, M., Waldman, L., & Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2017) Socio-Cultural Determinants of Human-Bat Interaction in Rural Ghana Anthrozoös, 30:2, 181-194, DOI: 10.1080/08927936.2017.1310984
6. Tweneboah Lawson, E.T., Ohemeng, F., Ayivor, J., Leach, M., Waldman, L., & Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2017). Understanding Framings and Perceptions of Spillover: Preventing Future Outbreaks of Bat-Borne Zoonoses?  Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 26 (4), 396-411, https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-04-2016-0082
7. Ofori B. D., Lawson E. T. Ayivor J. S. & Kanlisi R. (2016). Sustainable Livelihood Adaptation in Dam-Affected Volta Delta, Ghana: Lessons of NGO Support. Journal of Sustainable Development; 9(3), 248-260. doi:10.5539/jsd.v9n3p248.
8. Tweneboah Lawson E, Ayivor, J. S., Ohemeng, F. & Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2016). Social Determinants of a Potential Spillover of Bat-Borne Viruses to Humans in Ghana. International Journal of Biology; Vol. 8, No. 2. doi:10.5539/ijb.v8n2p66. 
9. Ayivor, J.S.,  Pabi, O.,  Ofori, B.D., Yirenya-Taiwiah, D.R. & Chris Gordon, C. (2016). Agro-Diversity in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana: A Strategy for Food Security against Climatic and Socio-Economic Stressors. Environment and Natural Resources Research; Vol. 6, No. 1; 2016. doi:10.5539/enrr.v6n1p1
10. Ofori, B.D., Ayivor, J.S., Pabi, O., & Gordon, C. (2015). Agroecological Niches as Ecosystem-Based Adaptive Option to Environmental Change in the Forest-Savanna Transition Zone of Ghana. Journal of Sustainable Development; Vol. 8, No. 9; 2015. doi:10.5539/jsd.v8n9p281
11. Ayivor, J.S., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2015). Assessing the socio-economic stressors of Ghana’s only Strict Nature Reserve: Kogyae Parks 21(2), 87-101.
12. Ayivor, J.S. (2014). Access to reeds and mat making in the lower Volta basin of Ghana. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. 35 (2014): 197–212. doi:10.1111/sjtg.12068.
13. Ofori, B.D., Nukpezah, D., Ayivor, J.S., Lawson, E.T. and Gordon, C. (2014). Leadership, local knowledge and water management: Lessons from fringe communities of the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, Ghana. International Journal of Development and Sustainability.  3 (2): 353-370.
14. Ayivor, J.S., Gordon, C., and Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., (2013). Protected area management and livelihood conflicts in Ghana: A case study of Digya National Park. Parks 19 (1): 37-50
15. Ayivor, J.S. and Ekpe, E. (2012). Community-Based Integrated Natural Resource Management in Okyeman Traditional Area of the Eastern Region, Ghana: Socio-Economic Profile of the Okyeman Traditional Area. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 20 (3): 35 -45
16. Ayivor, J.S. and Gordon, C. (2012). Impact of Land Use on River Systems in Okyeman Traditional Area of the Eastern Region, Ghana. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 20 (3): 83–96
17. Ayivor, J.S. and Gordon, C. (2012). Watershed Disturbance and its Potential Effects on River Systems in the Okyeman Traditional Area of Ghana: The Case of Atewa Range Forest Reserve. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 20 (3): 97 -108.
18. Ayivor, J.S., Gordon, C., Adomako, J.K., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2011). Challenges of managing forest reserves: case study of Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Ghana. Nature and Faune:  Economic and Social Significance of Forests for African Sustainable Development. FAO, 25 (2): 56-63.
19. Gordon C., Jallow, A, Lawson, E., Ayivor, J.S  and Mensah, M. (2010). Food security and natural resources management: Overview on climate change implications for Africa. Climate change implications for agricultural development and natural resources conservation in Africa. Nature & Faune; Enhancing natural resources management for food security in Africa. FAO, 25 (1): 10-16.
20. Gordon, C., Tweneboah, E., Mensah, A., and Ayivor, J.S. (2009).  The Application of the Ecosystem Approach to Mangrove management: Lessons for Ghana. The relevance of mangrove forests to African fisheries, wildlife and water resources. Nature and Faune. FAO, 24 (1): 30-41.
21. Baba, S., C. Gordon, M. Kainuma, J.S., Ayivor and Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2004). The Global Mangrove Database and Information System (GLOMIS): Present Status and Future Trends. In: Vanden Berghe E., M. Brown, M. Costello, C. Heip, S. Levitus, P. Pissierssens (Eds) p. 3-14. Proceedings of 'The Colour of the Ocean Data' Symposium, Brussels 25-27 November 2002. IOC Workshop Report, 188.  (UNESCO, Pari). X+308 pp. also published as VLIZ Special Publication 16.