Shot and killed in the US: Who was Dr Kofi Akamani?

From planning at KNUST in Kumasi to leadership of an international scientific organisation, Dr Kofi Akamani built an academic career focused on natural-resource management, conservation, environmental change and the resilience of communities that depend on natural resources.

Dr Kofi Akamani was a Ghanaian academic and Professor of Forest Recreation and Conservation Social Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the United States. His research included rural communities in Ghana and the United States, with particular attention to resource-dependent community sustainability, natural-resource governance, conservation policy, resilience and vulnerability, and the governance of forests, land and water resources.

His academic training began in Ghana, where he obtained a BSc in Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in July 2003. He later earned an MPhil in Culture, Environment and Sustainability from the University of Oslo in Norway in June 2006, followed by a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho in May 2011.

Much of Dr Akamani’s work examined the human dimensions of natural-resource management and the sustainability and resilience of communities that depend on natural resources.

Southern Illinois University lists his research interests as human dimensions of natural-resource management, resource-dependent community sustainability, international protected areas and conservation policy, nature-based tourism and recreation planning, resilience and vulnerability in rural and urban settlements, adaptive governance of forests, land and water resources, natural-resource collaboration and conflict management, natural-resource planning and policy analysis, interdisciplinary research and mixed-methods research.

His published research included work on collaborative forest management and its effects on community and household resilience in Ghana, as well as research on adaptive water governance and the integration of human dimensions into water-resource governance.

In August 2021, he published a review in the journal Agronomy titled “An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Climate-Smart Agriculture with Some Considerations for Social Equity”. The paper examined ecosystem management as an approach to climate-smart agriculture and called for greater attention to social equity in its implementation.

From university research to international assessments

Dr Akamani’s work extended into major international scientific assessments. Southern Illinois University identifies him as a Coordinating Lead Author of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations’ assessment on forests as pillars of social and economic resilience, a Lead Author of the IPBES Nexus Assessment and a Lead Author of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook 7 assessment. The university also identifies him as an author of the ecosystems chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment of the United States.

His curriculum vitae records further assessment responsibilities. He was appointed as an author of the Rural Communities chapter of the Sixth National Climate Assessment and as an author of the Status, Trends and Future Projections of Nature chapter of the First National Nature Assessment.

In April 2024, Southern Illinois University announced that he had been appointed an author of the First National Nature Assessment. The university said the assessment was intended to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of US forests, water resources and wildlife and the benefits they provide.

Dr Akamani was also involved in international biodiversity science and cooperation. His curriculum vitae records that the International Union of Biological Sciences appointed him as its lead delegate to the 27th meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice in Panama City from 20 to 24 October 2025.

His CV also records his membership of the US National Committee for the International Union of Biological Sciences. In June 2026, he took on one of his most prominent international roles. At the 35th General Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India, on 12 June 2026, he was elected Secretary General for the 2026–2029 term. IUBS lists him as Secretary General and identifies his research fields as forestry, conservation social science, protected areas and international biodiversity conservation, and social-ecological systems research.

Recognition for his academic work

His career also brought recognition from the institutions with which he was associated. In 2016, he received the Early Career Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University. In 2023, he received the International Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources.

In April 2024, the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees approved his promotion to Professor in the School of Forestry and Horticulture, effective with the 2024–2025 academic year.

His curriculum vitae also records that he became Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sustainable Forestry in January 2025. He also served as an expert grant-proposal reviewer for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture and the European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+.

Much of Dr Akamani’s professional career was based in the United States, while his research included extensive work on Ghanaian forests, water resources and rural communities.

Southern Illinois University says his research included transitions in the governance of forests and water resources and their implications for the resilience of rural resource-dependent communities in Ghana, the United States and other countries.

His academic work covered natural-resource management, forests, water, agriculture, biodiversity, conservation, climate change and community resilience.

His work also contributed to national and international scientific assessments dealing with climate change, biodiversity, natural resources and environmental change.

His death

Dr Kofi Akamani died on 19 September 2026, aged 48, following a shooting in Jackson County, Illinois. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a shooting and that Akamani was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, where he was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the shooting.

His wife, Betty Akamani, 35, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of endangering the life or health of a child in connection with his death. The charges are allegations and have not been determined at trial.

At the time of his death, Dr Akamani was a Professor of Forest Recreation and Conservation Social Science at Southern Illinois University and had been elected Secretary General of the International Union of Biological Sciences for the 2026–2029 term.

His academic career took him from planning studies at KNUST in Kumasi through postgraduate education in Norway and the United States to a professorship at Southern Illinois University and leadership within an international scientific organisation.

His published research, academic appointments and contributions to international assessments document a career centred on natural-resource management, conservation, community resilience and the relationship between people and the environment.