Olutoyosi Tokun joined the DirtPol team in February, 2014 as a project researcher working on the health and environment portfolio of the project in Lagos, Nigeria. She has been working in the field of research and development since 2009; carrying out molecular techniques on staple food crops like cassava and soybean in order to enhance desirable characteristics such as drought resistance and increased yield.
Olutoyosi graduated with a first class honours from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Lagos in 2008. Her outstanding academic track record earned her the University of Lagos Endowment Scholarship for Academic Excellence in 2007. She also holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Monash University, Australia. Studies in epidemiology and field methods, as well as social research methods training facilitated by NatCen at the University of Sussex in May 2014 equipped her adequately for the DirtPol project.
At the start-up phase of the DirtPol project, Olutoyosi carried out preliminary studies of Waste management sites in Lagos and established rapport with the local authorities on these sites. She also clearly defined the study population she would be interacting with in the course of the project to include public health users and providers as well users and residents of waste management sites in Lagos. Subsequently interview questions tailored to suit each group were developed. As a major goal of the project is to preserve the subtleties and connotations of dirt-related words from the source language, Olutoyosi worked on establishing a spectrum of these words in Yoruba language
The DirtPol journey has been very eventful for Olutoyosi as data collection reflected prevailing circumstances in the society. Discussions have been very diverse, ranging from the response of Lagosians to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in August 2014, to the horn-free day declared by the Lagos State Government in October, and more recently certain election campaign strategies.
Olutoyosi is from the Yoruba ethnic group, South-West Nigeria. She speaks Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and English fluently. When she is not conducting or transcribing interviews, she spends time reading mostly African literature and catching up on social media. She is also keen on experiencing other cultures. Olutoyosi is interested in working in the field of public health and waste management. She can be contacted via email, olutoyositokun@gmail.com
