Professor Reuben James Olembo (1937–2005) was a prominent Kenyan academic, scientist and environmentalist.
[1] He became the Acting Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),[2] after his retirement from UNEP.
Reuben Olembo was born on November 28, 1937, in Bunyore in the then Vihiga District of Kakamega in Western Province, Kenya.
[3][4] He attended Purdue University in Indiana[5] and between 1961 and 1965 he was awarded his bachelor's (Biology and Chemistry), master's and doctoral degrees (genetics, with minors in biochemistry and statistics).
He also had a prominent role in establishing The World Soils Policy, the Tropical Forest Action Plan of 1985, and the Microbial Resource Centers.
Olembo was the longest serving member of the Board of Trustees of the Kenya National Parks, to which he was appointed in 1967.
[10] Olembo served as a national government advisor on environmental affairs to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.