Shimels Eshete Wassie is the research program manager for the Global Methane Hub project at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Global Engagement Office. Dr. Wassie is a ruminant nutrition specialist with over 12 years of experience, including 5 years in international consultancy focused on climate change mitigation in the livestock sector. He has provided consultancy services for project design, implementation, and management, emphasizing the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock. He has collaborated with national partners in Africa and Southeast Asia to develop Tier 2 national GHG inventories, identify policy options through scenario modeling, and establish MRV systems for livestock sector GHG mitigation strategies. Dr. Wassie has supported agencies such as the World Bank-Oromia forested Landscape Project, US Forest Service/SilvaCarbon, and USDA-FAS in evaluating the GHG emissions reduction potential of various African projects.

Originally from Ethiopia, Dr. Wassie earned his B.Sc. in Animal Production and Rangeland Management from Debub University (now Hawassa University). He pursued an M.S. in Agricultural Science in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Science specializing in ruminant nutrition from the University of Hohenheim, Germany. He received a scholarship from the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ, Germany) and contributed to a pioneering project on GHG emissions from livestock systems in East Africa at ILRI Kenya. Dr. Wassie has published numerous scientific papers on topics such as the carbon footprint of milk production, alternative feed options for reducing GHG emissions in tropical countries, and methods for supporting MRV of livestock emissions in developing countries.