Ahmed A. Gelchu was born in Oromia (southern Ethiopia). He received his Bachelors of Science Degree from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (1991) in Biology. He received Mphil Degree in Fisheries Biology and Fisheries Management from the University of Bergen, Norway (1999). For his Mphil thesis he did his research on inland fisheries, the title of his study was "The assessment of Lake Ziway fisheries, Ethiopia." He worked on the Sea Around Us project, gathering digital information on spatial distribution of fish. He is currently working towards his PhD on Evolution and Distribution of Global Fishing Effort under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Pauly