As a child, Kebonyemodisa Ntesang viewed series of unexpected adventures that shaped his resilient spirit and ignited his thirst for exploration. Kebonyemodisa was born and raised in a Kanye Village, Botswana. In Botswana the main economic activity for the rural population is agriculture (pastoral and cop cultivation). Growing up in the rural area, Kebonyemodisa (‘I have found a shepherd’, in Tswana) spent most of his childhood days exploring the vast wilderness surrounding his home where it was mostly characterized by agricultural activities. As an ordinary Motswana keeping livestock and growing of crops is viewed as part of life and prestige. As young rural boy, heading of livestock (caring of sick, handling, watering, dipping etc) was mandatory where ultimately, he found loving and caring animals as his calling.
Kebonyemodisa Ntesang is a dedicated research scientist with almost two-decade experience in the field of Veterinary parasitology. He earned his first degree in Animal Health from Northwest University (South Africa, 2005). He was employed by Botswana Government, Ministry of Agriculture in 2006 and posted to Botswana National Veterinary Laboratory (BNVL). At BNVL, he worked in parasitology laboratory where he tested for various animal parasitic conditions using numerous techniques (microscopic, serological and molecular amongst others). Driven by his passion of parasitology, he furthered his studies with University of Pretoria (South Africa) and obtained a MSc in Veterinary Science (2014), with his thesis on dog parasites. Upon his return, he was transferred to Molecular Biology lab where he was engaged with diagnostic of various diseases (viral, bacterial, parasitic) with distinct molecular techniques. With strong commitment and the love for parasitology he carried on and pursued PhD studies with Guru Angad dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) and completed in 2022. He is currently employed as Senior Research Scientist at National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) which a formed by merging of the Botswana National Veterinary Laboratory, national Food technology Centre and department of research.
Kebonyemodisa has collaborated with international organisation (Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Italy-Teramo (Study on some exotic diseases at risk of introduction in European countries: experimental infection and field study in endemic African countries with emphasis on Dourine (Trypanosoma equiperdium), – Study of tick- and tick-borne disease in Caprivi, Chobe district), and International Livestock Research centre (ILRI- Competitive Smallholder Livestock Botswana) on various research topics in relation to animal disease to improve and maintain existing markets as well as boost lives of people especially those in rural areas who are mostly women and children. Besides his day-to-day activities, he had joined efforts with learning institutions (Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN- ‘’Participatory inventory of plant-based ethnoveterinary medicine used to control internal parasites of goats in the Ngamiland region of Botswana) and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST-Development -Development and validation of real time PCR for detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium heartwater disease) to train and disseminate information on parasitic diseases as core supervisor to some MSc students. Within the laboratory he has collaborated with other scientist on different disease research in bacterial, viral diseases. They have published, first molecular characterization of poxviruses in cattle, sheep, and goats in Botswana and still working on validating of various research methods.
Kebonyemodisa is ready to collaborate with any one across the globe, on any topic even though his main interest is on external and molecular parasitology. He wishes to introduce parasitological testing in all satellites laboratories around the country to boost diagnostic capacity and to improved lifestyle of rural communities by planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating, control programmes based on integrated management approaches in accordance with the prevailing epidemiological, social and economic conditions. Furthermore, he wished that, the ISSN prestigious awards can serve as an inspiration to his colleagues whom should tap into the Botswana/India warm relations of capacity building to produce high quality, innovative research scientists, a step towards achieving one of Botswana’s priority areas of human capital development.
