Ayobami Akinleye

Ayobami Akinleye is a Graduate Research Assistant at Kentucky State University with a B.Sc. in Geography from the University of Ibadan (2020). Before beginning graduate studies in the United States, he worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Ibadan, supporting field data collection, literature reviews, and basic GIS mapping. At KSU, his master’s thesis—“Assessing soil loss and vegetation growth in the Wolf Creek watershed on reclaimed coal mine lands of Eastern Kentucky”—examines how post-mining landscapes recover and where erosion risks persist. His work applies GIS and remote-sensing techniques to track vegetation change and identify hotspots of soil loss at the watershed scale. The project’s goal is to inform reclamation planning and sustainable watershed management in coal-impacted regions. Ayobami’s broader interests include environmental monitoring, geomatics, and decision support for land and water resources. He has presented his research and related work at the Kentucky Academy of Science (November 2024), attended the Association of American Geographers conference (March 2025), and the Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium (September 2025). These venues reflect his commitment to translating geospatial analysis into practical insights for scientists, practitioners, and policy stakeholders. He is eager to collaborate on projects that bridge data, ecology, and community resilience.