Prof. Aiah Lebbie, Vice Chancellor & Principal of the University of Sierra Leone, spent 4 days in the field documenting the ecology and ethnobotany of the endangered plant species, Habropetalum dawei (Sangi in Mende; and Jului in Vai), a plant endemic to Sierra Leone, with limited occurrences in the Pujehun District only.

This is the first detailed scientific field research on this species in over 75 years. It is of significant value to the people inhabiting the region where it occurs, as it features extensively in construction projects and other daily tasks that require the use of ropes. It is used as a fish stunning alkaloid, and the natural metabolite, Habropetalin A, known also from this plant, is potent against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

This field work is being conducted as part of the Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPA) project in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (UK), and the National Herbarium of Sierra Leone which he heads at Njala University.

The project aims to identify important habitats for the conservation of threatened/endangered plant species across Sierra Leone. Prof. Lebbie is an avid plant collector, and amidst his busy administrative duties at the University of Sierra Leone, he still finds time to explore the natural world around him with his graduate students. This should serve to encourage academic staff to pursue their career and contribute to new scientific knowledge with the kind of passion he has shown for his research.