Professor Charles Ngugi is an Associate Professor of Fish Biology and Aquaculture and the current Director Postgraduate Studies. He is also the Acting Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at Karatina University. He holds a PhD in Fish Biology from St. John’s Memorial University of Newfoundland, CANADA. In 2012 he was decorated by the President of Kenya with the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) for his exemplary, profound and pre-eminent service to the Nation. Other awards include the Unsung Hero Award- Scotland and BIFAD International Award for Scientific Excellence in the Feed the Future Innovation- USAID.  He is a Strategic Leader, Researcher, Academia and works with small scale farmers.

Prof. Charles Ngugi has a long teaching career in public universities and has supervised and graduated over 20 PhD and Masters students who are currently in senior positions both in public and private sectors. He served as Fisheries Secretary and Chief Technical Adviser to the Principal Secretary, State Department of Blue Economy, Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and Fisheries Development for three years and on the Board of Directors of Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute for six years.  Prof. Charles Ngugi has worked for 20 years as a consultant with USAID AquaFish CRSP, FAO, Farm Africa, CIDA, GIZ, DFID and, Gatsby Africa among others. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles in international journals and over 60 technical reports, books and book chapters. His recent Research assignments include a position as Africa Regional Coordinator and Principal Investigator for the Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Programme (AquaFish Innovation Lab).

The African Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS-AC) was established in November 2018. Prof Charles Ngugi having joined the WAS in 2003, is amongst the league of the “founding members” of the WAS-AC. He has been instrumental in the Chapter formation and decision-making platforms for the Chapter’s strategic direction. He is also a renowned international researcher on African aquaculture and also a key note speaker at many WAS and related global and Regional events on aquaculture. They include European Commission Meeting in Brussels to develop guidelines for future Aquaculture funding in Africa March 2017, FAO’s side meeting with the committee of experts at the Sustainable Blue Economy, World Aquaculture Society AQUA 2018 in Montpelier, France, and Aquaculture America 2018 in Las Vegas, US (Feb 2018) and he is member of the World Aquaculture Society and Aquaculture Association of South Africa.  His area of interest includes Development of low-cost fish feeds for fish farmers in Africa, training farmers in Mali, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh among other countries where he has given conference presentations.