Tilahun is an urban ecologist with special interest for urban sustainability. He grew up in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. He obtained his first degree in biology in 2007 after completing a three-year bachelor degree program in applied biology at Addis Ababa University. His keen interest for environmental sustainability coupled with the wide-reaching nature of the program gave him the opportunity to focus on ecology as his future career. His excelled interest for environmental sciences enabled him to join the most competitive masters program in applied ecology where he discovers the diverse application of ecological principles for remediating environmental problems.
Tilahun left for Poitiers, France in September 2012 to attend his Master’s degree in applied ecology at the University of Poitiers, France. As his Master’s program involved two other universities, he also moved to the University of East Anglia, UK, and the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He obtained his masters degree in September 2014 and start working under the chair of ecosystem planning and management at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) as a lecturer as of June 2015.
His doctoral research focuses on enhancing the availability, social usability, and accessibility of urban green spaces in East African Cities. Using the case of Addis Ababa and Kampala, he studied how the legal and institutional frameworks, social perception, and physical accessibility shaped the social usability of urban green spaces.