Rafiu Badekale

Rafiu Adekoya Badekale, from Ogun State, Nigeria, is pursuing a PhD in energy science and engineering at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He received a bachelor’s degree in petroleum and gas engineering from the University of Lagos. Rafiu aspires to advance clean energy integration, climate change mitigation, and access to quality education. He worked with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, where he accounted for every molecule of natural gas produced in the nation to support zero gas flaring goals, and as an AI researcher at Hamoye Foundation, a U.S.-based organization. He co-founded an education access initiative to help students from rural Nigerian communities gain admission to national universities. Rafiu graduated as faculty of engineering valedictorian and was inducted as the youngest person in the hall of fame of his hometown, Idowa Ijebu, by his king. He represented Africa at the 2023 Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition and received national scholarships including Petroleum Technology Development Fund, NNPC/SNEPCo, and Agbami.