Zinabu Gebremariam is Professor of Freshwater Ecology at Hawassa University. He had served at various academic leadership positions for more than two decades, including Founding President of Hawassa University and Director General of the Ethiopian Higher Education Strategy Center. His honors and awards include the Ethiopian Science and Technology National Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Higher Education Teaching and Research (2008); the University of Waterloo (UW - Canada) Faculty of Science Alumni of Honor Awards (2007).