It is always difficult to say goodbye to colleagues who have made a meaningful impact in a short time, and this is certainly the case as we bid farewell to Olayinka Oke following her secondment with us at WorldPop.
Olayinka joined us from Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC) where she plays a key role in demographic analysis and population data systems for 5 months from early October. During her time at WorldPop under the supervision and mentorship of Dr Chris Nnanatu, Head of WorldPop’s Spatial Statistics and Population Modelling (SSPM) team, she immersed herself in advanced geospatial population modelling, building strong technical capability in Bayesian spatial methods, small area estimation, and high-resolution population mapping.
A particularly notable outcome of her secondment was the development of a hybrid modelling framework that brings together machine learning, demographic techniques, and spatial statistics. This approach is designed to produce policy-relevant population estimates in data-constrained settings and represents a valuable contribution to ongoing work in this space. Alongside this, Olayinka actively contributed to technical exchange with partners including the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) and UN DESA, reinforcing important connections between research and official statistics communities.
As she returns to the National Population Commission, Olayinka will be applying these methods to support sustainable collaboration between WorldPop and NPC for Nigeria’s census planning, subnational population estimation, and the delivery of decision-ready demographic intelligence for policy and programme use.
Beyond her technical achievements, Olayinka brought a strong analytical mindset to her work. She consistently demonstrated the ability to interpret complex datasets, generate actionable insights, and support evidence-based decision-making.
We are grateful for Olayinka’s contributions during her time with us and wish her every success in the next stage of her work. We look forward to staying connected.
