Babalola (Pr.Sci.Nat, MASSAF, FTWAS, FAS, FAAS, FISC, FRSB, FAAM) was the Vice President of the Org. for Women in Sci. for the Developing World (OWSD) & TWAS VP. Baba, an NRF B-rated scientist with an MBA, sits on several editorial boards and acts as an International Advisor to a few others. She was with IITA (Nigeria), ICIPE (Kenya), Weizmann Inst. of Sci. (Israel), Univ of the Western Cape, and now North-West Univ (South Africa). She has 21 years of experience in rhizosphere research. She is passionate about capacity building & has trained 39 PhDs & 29 MScs. Many of her products are in academia in the UK, Italy, America, Canada, Australia, Sweden, & Africa. She authored 450 publications. She is an AAAS-TWAS science diplomacy alumnus, impacting the world in policymaking, diplomacy, and diplomatic engagement. Her international experience spans the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. She enjoys global partnerships, and her efforts have received many awards, including finalist status at GenderInSite 2020, Clarivate 2022 & 2023, & SAWISA 2024. Baba has an H-index of 92, more than 40,000 citations & 56 professional certificates. She is #1 in Africa for Soil Science & Plant Nutrition

Whitelock is an astronomer at, and former director of, the South African Astronomical Observatory and an honorary professor at the University of Cape Town. She obtained her BSc and PhD at the University of London. Her primary research interests are the late stages of stellar evolution, mass-loss and variability. She has also worked on galactic structure, near-by galaxies and the cosmic distance scale. She is involved in astronomy education, astronomy for development, and international coordination and collaboration. She has served as president of the International Astronomical Union’s Division VII (Galactic Systems), is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, an honorary fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK) and an honorary member and fellow—and former president—of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP). She is the recipient of the 2018 de Beers Gold Medal of the SAIP and a Doctor of Laws (HC) from Rhodes University in 2020. She is currently Chair of the South African LSST Committee, which oversees collaborations with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and serves on the Executive Committee of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) 2025-2028.