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Prof. CM Navaratne Coordinator of the BRITAE Project) Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. champa@agricc.ruh.ac.lk Has teaching and research experience more than 35 years in the field of Agricultural Engineering including Hydrology, Irrigation and water management, climate change etc. Working in field of disaster resilience and management in last 12 years in various aspects. Organized and worked as a resource person in many disaster resilience programmes conducted by Network of Women Water Professionals for the community. Jointly worked with Japan Water Forum to prepare books and practical hand books for schoolchildren in Sri Lanka on ‘Disaster Preparedness’ Was a member of the documentary team that prepared “Silent Disaster: Unregulated River Sand Mining in Sri Lanka” and “Weeping River in Sri Lanka” documentary films. The University coordinator for research projects in ASCENT (Advancing Skill Creation to Enhance Transformation), RECADOS- TM (Research Capacity Development for Staff – Training Mobility) and BECK project entitled “Climate change and consumer behavior related to energy efficiency in the built environment.”
Prof KL Wasantha Kumara Department of Agricultural Biology,
Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Ruhuna,
Sri Lanka.
wasanthk2011@gmail.com
PhD holder in Plant Pathology with 24 years of teaching and research experience at the University level.
Postdoctoral research fellow of University of Melbourne working in the area of Climate Change research working in the area of Climate Change research and worked at Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka as a Senior Research Officer helping TRI to upgrade its research activities.
He has published over 25 research articles in peer reviewed journals and around 50 conference proceedings and abstracts therefore, has established a strong track record in the said disciplines in the country. A reviewer of number of conferences, journals and currently serving as the editor-in-chief for the journal of Tropical Agriculture, Research and Extension (TARE), published by University of Ruhuna.
Has served or is serving in numerous national level committees in agriculture and other disciplines on various capacities.
Member of the University Grants Commission standing committee on Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Member of Committee on Plant Protection of Council for Agriculture Research Policy (CARP), Board of Management of postgraduate Institute of Agriculture at University of Peradeniya.
Served as a coordinator of teaching and learning resources of the Distance and continuing education unit (DCEU) of the University of Ruhuna.
Prof. G.Y. Jayasinghe Head of the Department, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. victorlion3000@gmail.com Professor in the Department of Agric. Engineering, (BSc Agriculture: MSc in Applied Microbiology: MSc in Environmental Science and Technology: PhD in Environmental Sciences and Tech). He has been serving in the environmental and technology allied fields with 16 years of experience and having more than 35 SCI journal papers, 10 Books and over 150 scientific communications in reputed journals. Visiting a professor to Melbourne University, Australia and the Ryukyus University, Japan Research interests include; climate change, ecosystem degradation, green buildings, green infrastructure, urban heat island, resilient cities; disaster risk reduction; capacity building; socio-economic measures for disaster risks; Ecological sanitation, atmospheric pollution Consultant to World Bank projects, coordinator to university-industry partnership platform and collaborative researcher with several international agencies.
Mr. W.M.R.H. Wickramasinghe
Research Assistant
wickramasinghewmrh@gmail.com
Prof. KD.N. Weerasinghe Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. profweera@gmail.com Engineer Agronomist holding Ph.D in Agriculture Served 35 years in the academic field and also having vast experience in working with communities and interdisciplinary teams in many countries to build resilient agricultural practices to reduce multi-hazard impacts. National award winner (2014) for academic leadership in disaster resiliance. Working as a consultant in Climate Change and Resource management programme and engage in flood mitigation and coastal ecosystems restoration programmes to meet the challenges of Climate challenges into coastal ecosystems in ADPC since 2010. Coordinated the Sri Lanka country project under the regional project on “Technical assistance for enhancing the capacity of end-to-end multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (EWS) for coastal hazards”. Serves in the capacity of livelihood Resilience building specialist in the project on “Mainstreaming Weather and Climate Information Applications for Enhancement of AgroecosystemServices and Functions in lower Mekong river basin in Vietnam and Nilwala river basin in Sri Lanka” . Avails long years of experience in the academic field to build community resilience in particular areas of Drought risk management, eco-system resilience building etc. 80 journal publications and more than 150 Conference papers in the career as an Agronomist and Academic. Engaged with community restoration and resilience building programmes, programmes in disaster resilience and response management.
Prof. SD Wanniarachchi Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. sdwanniarachchi@gmail.com Professor in the Department of Soil Science with MSc and PhD in Soil Biology & Biochemistry. Over 28 years’ experience in teaching and research at universities with more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in journals and proceedings of conferences/symposia. Over 20-year experience in curriculum development, educational reforms and introducing new degree programmes and courses at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna. More than 10-year experience in university administration having worked as the head of two departments at University of Ruhuna. Worked as a Visiting Professor at the Kansas State University in USA, Visiting Academic Fellow at Bangor University, UK and as a Visiting Scientist at National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan Research interests are in soil organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling with emphasis on carbon and nitrogen, soil quality, organic agriculture and land use and environmental quality.
Prof. Vijith S. Jayamanne
Department of Food Science,
Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Ruhuna,
Sri Lanka.
vsjayamanne@fst.ruh.ac.lk
Working as a university academic for a period of over 22 years
Holds a BSc Agriculture degree (Ruhuna, Sri Lanka), an MPhil degree in Food Science and Technology (Peradeniya, Sri Lanka), and a PhD (Surrey, UK). Further, he completed two postdoctoral fellowships at University of Nottingham (UK) and Curtin University (Australia)
Published over 70 research articles in the field of Food Science and Technology in locally and internationally refereed literature and engaged in several national and international projects
Mr. KMC Tharupath Research Assistant (BRITAE Project) chamtharupath976@gmail.com
Mr. Dasun Tharanga Senanayaka
Research Assistant
Prof. Nishara Fernando
Director Social policy Analysis and Research Center,
Department of Sociology,
University of Colombo,
Sri Lanka.
nishara.fernando@gmail.com
Holds the Director post at the Social policy Analysis and Research Center Since the year 2016. He has published over 40 journal articles in peer reviewed international journals and over 500 citations. Further, he is a reviewer of number of conferences, journals. A member of the Sri Lanka National Science Foundation’s journals.
Works closely with the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka and the National building research organization the official bodies of the government of Sri Lanka, responsible for mitigating disasters as a consultant and an adviser.
Expertise ranges from disaster management, disaster induced relocation and displacement, disaster risk reduction, disaster resilience, vulnerable groups, Social impact Assessment, Vulnerability Assessment
Senior Prof. Lasantha Manawadu Head of the department, Department of geography, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. lasan@geo.cmb.ac.lk
Leading expert in Sri Lanka on GIS and Remote Sensing, Climate Change, Urban Air Pollution, Surface Temperature, Disaster Management. Published over 40 journal articles in peer reviewed international journals and published over 6 books in his discipline and has established a strong track record in the said disciplines in the country
C. S. A. Siriwardana Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. chaasi@uom.lk Research interests: in the field of Disaster Risk Management, Disaster Risk Reduction, Safety Levels of Hospitals, Construction Management, Construction Safety, Human Resources Management, and Construction Productivity Member of ASCENT (Advancing Skill Creation to Enhance Transformation), CABARET (Capacity Building in Asia for Resilience Education) projects. Participated for the collaborative projects with Ministry of Health including; Safe hospital initiation project, screening to protect against dengue and code of practice for construction industry for dengue control.
Mr. H.A.D Gaindu Saranga Jayathilaka
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
gaindusaranga@gmail.com
Prof. (Eng.) Lalith Rajapakse
Director/Centre Chairman of the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Centre for South Asia Water Management (UMCSAWM), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
lalith@uom.lk
Presently serving as the Course Coordinator of the International Master’s Program in Water Resources Engineering and Management as well. He has been working in the fields of Surface/Groundwater hydrology, Water resources engineering/ management, Ecological engineering, Climate change impact and Risk management and Hydrological/Ecological modelling for over 25 years with expertise and experience in teaching, research and project consultancy related areas. He has numerous peer-reviewed research publications (over 35 indexed journal papers and over 120 other peer-reviewed publications) in hydrology/water resources/climate change/ecological engineering fields, and he is presently serving as a review panel member of the journals, Water Science and Technology/Wetlands Ecology and Management/Environment, Development and Sustainability, Engineer, etc.
Mr. J.H.P. Ravindu Udayantha Jayasekara
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
ravindujy@gmail.com
Prof. S.B. Navaratne Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayawardhanapura, Sri Lanka. sbnava@sci.sjp.ac.lk Worked as a research officer, stores superintendent and R& D scientist in field of post harvest technology pertaining to the grains, fruits and vegetables for more than 35 years specially in the down south of Sri Lanka and under Kiridioya project Research interests are procuring food security, building emergency food stocks, selecting appropriate food packaging materials to avert damages due to hazards and ensuring safe delivery of foods for the affected community during disastrous situations. And also he has undergone training programmes organized by ASCENT as well as other organizations Pertaining to the resilience build up and way of conducting research to build up food security, risk assessment, hazard analysis and maintaining of safety and hygienic environment specially during post disaster period.
Dr. R.P. Godawatte Liyanage
Lecturer (food processing technology),
Faculty of Technology,
University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Sri Lanka.
rumesh@sci.sjp.ac.lk
Engaged with private and public sector organizations in the sector of food science and technology, food quality management and food security.
He was actively participated in decision and policymaking activities as a board director of Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority, Ministry of power and renewable energy from 2015-2018
Also he has engaged with Presidential secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of power and renewable energy and ministry of disaster management, Sri Lanka for several projects in last 05 years
Ms. Piumali Jayatissa
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
piumalijayatissa09@gmail.com
Prof. Achini De Silva Department of Agribusiness Management, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. desilva.achini@yahoo.co.uk A highly competent teaching and research professional rich with global experience Completed B.Sc. in Agriculture from University of Ruhuna, MBA from PGIA, University of Peradeniya and PhD from Hiroshima University, Japan. Commonwealth academic staff fellowship and Endeavour Australian fellowship empower the research career as well as building international research networks Awards: D.N. Choraphus award of Swiss Academy of Science for the best young scientist in 2004, best PhD student of Hiroshima University in 2007, best research publication award of Hiroshima University in 2007, best researcher of Sabaragamuwa University in 2013 were the jewels of the academic career. An excellent communicator with writing, research and analytical skills able to claimed several international and national research projects. Published as well as ongoing research work on disaster resilience and management will cater the expert demands of the project where more emphasis has paid on farming systems and fishery.
Ms B.M.R.L. Basnayake
Lecture (Prob.)
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
ruwinibasnayake@agri.sab.ac.lk
Prof. Mohamed Esham
Department of Agribusiness Management,
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences,
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.
esham@agri.sab.ac.lk
Served as the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Head of the Department of Agribusiness Management at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. He has also served as a consultant for ILO, World Bank, UNIDO and Rainforest Alliance.
He is a recipient of a number of prestigious international awards including the Fulbright Fellowship, Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship, Australian Endeavour Fellowship, Japan Foundation Fellowship, Japanese Monbukagakusho Fellowship, Japan Student Services Organization Fellowship and the Experts for Asia award from the European Union
Has published extensively in peer-reviewed papers in the areas of agribusiness and climate change.
His research interests include entrepreneurship, agribusiness, climate change, and food security
Ms. A.M.S.M.R.S.G. Bandara
Lecture (Prob.)
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
ruwinibandara@agri.sab.ac.lk
Prof Dilanthi Amaratunga Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, Global Disaster Resilience Center, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom. D.Amaratunga@hud.ac.uk Has 29 years of research experiences in both UK and in Sri Lanka. She currently leads the University’s Global Disaster Resilience Centre, responsible for supporting research on disaster management portfolios. Research interests include; resilient cities; disaster risk reduction; capacity building; socio-economic measures for disaster risks; gender (women) and protection within disaster contexts To date she has produced over four hundred publications, refereed papers and reports, and has made over 85 key note speeches in around 46 countries Chaired a large number of international conferences, including the International Conference on Building Resilience (ICBR) series, demonstrating her role, as a leader in the disaster mitigation and reconstruction field and as a conduit for international collaboration and engagement. Received the “His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka Award” for her contribution to disaster resilience in Sri Lanka. Winner of the UALL International Award for 2018 for CADRE (Collaborative Action towards Disaster Resilience Education). Member of the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) and European Science & Technology Advisory Group (E-STAG). She is a member of the steering committee of the UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign. Chair of the United Nations working group on words into action on accountability and governance. Joint editor in chief, International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment She is also well experienced in projects including REGARD (Rebuilding AfteR Displacement), BECK (Integrating education with consumer behaviour relevant to energy efficiency and climate change at the Universities of Russia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), CABARET (Capacity Building in Asia for Resilience EducaTion), ESPREssO (Enhancing Synergies for disaster PRevention in the EurOpean Union), ASCENT (Advancing Skill Creation to Enhance Transformation), CADRE (Collaborative Action towards Disaster Resilience Education), CASCADE (Collaborative Action towards Societal Challenges through Awareness, Development and Education).
Prof. Richard Haigh Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, Global Disaster Resilience Center, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom. R.Haigh@hud.ac.uk Leading Professor in disaster resilience with an international reputation. He has around 20 years of research experiences and currently co-leads the University of Huddersfield, UK Global Disaster Resilience Centre, responsible for supporting research on disaster management portfolios. His research interests include climate change adaptation, social impact of post-conflict reconstruction, capacity building for resilience, disaster resilient coastal communicates, economic development, conceptual understanding of resilience, the reintegration and rehabilitation of conflict-affected communities in Sri Lanka, and engagement of the private sector in the development of societal resilience. Co-Editor of International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment Former Associate Head of the Research and a Research Professor at the School of the Built Environment, University of Salford His research interests include the published over 45 peer reviewed journal articles, 1 edited book, 13 book chapters, and 18reports for a variety of stakeholders. A full list of Richard’s publications, projects, and national and international activities
Mr. Thisara Geethika Perera
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
thisara.Uduwarage@hud.ac.uk
Mr. Asitha de Silva
Research Assistant (BRITAE Project)
asitha.desilva@hud.ac.uk
Champika Lasanthi Liyanage
Reader (Associate Professor),
School of Engineering,
University of Central Lancashire,
United Kingdom.
CLLiyanage@uclan.ac.uk
Research degree tutor and both undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation tutor within the school of engineering in UCLan, due to her extensive knowledge and experience on different areas of research methodologies
Experience in working in many EU projects, organising successful conferences and training schools/events as part of the work she has carried out in these projects
Experience in supervising and guiding research students on different qualitative and quantitative methodologies
Dr. Leila Khajenoori
Lecturer in Civil and Construction Engineering,
School of Engineering,
University of Central Lancashire,
United Kingdom.
Lkhajenoori@uclan.ac.uk
Highly experienced in the teaching of several civil engineering and hydraulic engineering modules at three different universities.8 years of academic experience as a course leader and 5 years work experience in the industry as a senior engineer. Hands-on experience in civil engineering projects: Hydraulic systems, work scope definition and regulatory compliance.
Research areas : CFD modeling, DEM modeling, SPH modeling, civil engineering, flood control, river engineering, coastal protection, sustainability and optimization of hydraulic structures.
Prof Irene Lill Chair in Building Technology, Head of Department of Building Production, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. Irene.lill@ttu.ee Major topics for consultancy and research: Construction management and economics, simulation modelling, management strategies in construction, Engineering education and language-cultural issues in engineering education, disaster resilience Has extensive experience being one of the project coordinators including involvement as a researcher in the many current and completed EU-LLP funded projects in the field of disaster resilience and academic networking. She is also very experienced in driving the quality management agenda in research projects including: ANDROID, CADRE (Collaborative Action towards Disaster Resilience Education), and CENEAST (Reformation of the Curricula on built Environment in the Eastern neighbouring area). She is an internationally leading researcher and is actively involved in several activities.
Prof. Emlyn Witt Associated Professor(PhD)of Construction Economics and Management, Department of Building Production, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. emlyn.witt@taltech.ee
Areas of current research include: engineering education, construction management and disaster resilience Experience of multi lateral projects including involvement as a researcher in many current and completed EU-LLP funded projects in the area of disaster resilience and academic networking Has considerable international construction industry experience having worked for construction contractors (in Zimbabwe and Mozambique), consulting engineers and project managers (in the United Kingdom), public client organizations (in the United Kingdom and South Africa) and in academia (in Estonia).
Prof.Artūras Kaklauskas Head of the Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania. arturas.kaklauskas@vgtu.lt Member of the Research Council of Lithuania. Laureate of the Lithuanian Science Prize, a member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, and an editor of three international journals (Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Associate Editor of Journal “Ecological Indicators”, etc.). Participated in more than 30 other projects in the EU, the US, Africa and Asia More than 25 years of international experience as an expert, a team leader, with general project administration and project management tasks, and teamwork organization; he has experience in project planning and management. Long experience in the development of data mining, and affective computing. His area of interest is energy, climate change, resilience management, healthy house, sustainable built environment, big data analytics, intelligent decision support systems, adaptive MOOCs, intelligent tutoring systems, intelligent library, etc.
Arune Binkyte-Veliene PhD in Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania. arune.binkyte-veliene@vgtu.lt Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Sustainable Construction Together with co-authors she has published 9 articles, 5 of them have been published in the Clarivate Analytics “Web of Science” data base with a citation index. Her research interests: decision support systems, sustainable built environment, sustainable development, sustainable construction, building certification, big data analysis, safe and healthy house, decision support, recommender and intelligent systems Projected participated: Reformation of the Curricula on Built Environment in the Eastern Neighbouring Area (CENEAST), Collaborative Reformation of Curricula on Resilience Management with Intelligent Systems on Open Source and Augmented Reality (RESINT), Regeneration and Optimization of Cultural heritage in creative and Knowledge cities (ROCK), Building Information Modelling based tools & technologies toward fast and efficient RENovation of residential buildings” (BIM4REN) and Climate change and consumer behavior related to energy efficiency in the built environment (BECK)
