TTM

Grace Kago

Grace believes that science engagement in mother tongues creates opportunities for people to build understanding and cultivate curiosity about microbial sciences and Biology as a whole. She began making science lessons in Kikuyu because she wanted to contribute to her grandparents understanding of the COVID pandemic developments. Since then, she’s been learning about how to teach science in African languages, how these lessons are broadly applicable to teaching microbial sciences in general, and is always curious about how to build epistemic bridges that can help us learn more about health and the world around us. She earned a B.A. (major: Biology, minor: Art History) from McDaniel College, and a Ph.D. (Cell and Molecular Biology) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kĩmani wa Emmah

Kĩmani is interested in the Tũnyamũ twĩ muoyo Science Translation Initiative because he enjoys learning and explaining about complex topics, and helping people understand what is happening at the cellular level in a simple and friendly way. He is fascinated by microbes and how they cause disease, and thus brings his expertise in reporting and Kikuyu language to translate and explain about biological cells and microbes in his mother tongue. He likes learning about how people do experiments, and is glad to learn and teach from these findings. As the proprietor of Ũgĩ media, an independent Kenyan media company, Kĩmani is committed to providing accessible, factual information to his audience. He and Cathy K host the Taũkĩrwo Kikuyu Science Show within the TTM platform.

Cathy K

Cathy K’s interest in the Tũnyamũ twĩ muoyo Science Translation Initiative comes from a fascination with diseases and how they happen. Growing up, she took care of her older relatives, and she often wanted to explain in more detail about the diseases they were dealing with in a language they understood. She carries this curiosity with her, and she is glad to be actively learning and teaching about cells, microbes, and diseases in creative ways to Kikuyu audiences. She thinks it is important to find relatable ways to help people understand and integrate knowledge about microbes and so she always tries to relate the topics to every-day life. Cathy brings her expertise in Kikuyu language, storytelling, and reporting to make compelling lessons for the audience. Cathy K and Kĩmani host the Taũkĩrwo Kikuyu Science Show within the TTM platform.

Quintine Simba

Quintine enjoys making informative, educational content that helps people learn and feel empowered. He’s also interested in implementing modern technology tools and strategies to make impactful, high quality lessons and videos. Quintine brings his expertise in communication, AI-tool implementation, along with fluency in Kiswahili to the team. He participated in the first and second cohort of the TTM scientist translation cohorts, and is now the Program Manager for the cohorts.