Meet Sri Lankan Researcher-Udani Wijewardhana

What are you currently working on or worked on before?

I am a Ph.D. student at the Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. My Ph.D. research focus is the development of Persistence models for bird species considering spatial and temporal scales using citizen science data and extends the results to other fauna.

This research has major implications on the standards of Australian conservation especially the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (PPWCMA) and other wildlife conservation authorities to ensure the survival of critically endangered local bird species. I am also working as a sessional staff member at the same university.

What motivated you to pursue your research topic?

I am not an ecologist or a biostatistician. This was a huge challenge for me. However, I have always loved animals. Without them, how would our planet look like? So this research helps me to support conservation authorities to protect endangered species worldwide before they are gone. This encouraged me to pursue my current research topic.

Where do you find your best inspiration for your work?

I went with my family on a trip to the Mornington Peninsula, Australia. There we saw the endangered bird species and their habitats. By this time my supervisor had given me this research topic. When I visited the area that day while reading the placards and the records, I realized that this mantelpiece would be a great help for the animal world. Then I decided to choose this research.

You can find my publication work done so far here.

What lessons would you share with a budding researcher?

Do not let any challenge in life confront you. Face it without fear. Challenges will only make you stronger. Nothing worth getting easily. Your commitment, time management, and planning are important to deserve it. You cannot recover the time you missed. So do the right thing on time and reach your goals. Then you will not regret it.

What motivated you to be a researcher?

I have chosen to undertake a Ph.D. study mainly for my career progression. This dream of pursuing a career in the research industry has been nurturing in me since my final year as an undergraduate and through my industrial internship period because I enjoyed studying data analytics and had an idea about the huge demand for data analytics in the present world.

I later developed a passion to become a data scientist through the management, study, and research with data and draw more valuable conclusions from them. This dream prompted me to gain a better understanding of this career path.

If there is a chance, will you help build research in Sri Lanka?

Will definitely support it. If my subject matter is a service that I can provide, I will do it without hesitation. My country has always been first. Second, the country that gave me shelter. There is no country in the world where there are so many children who are as talented as Sri Lanka, full of hidden talents. So they have to be skilled at using it. I fully support it.

According to your opinion, what are the changes that the Sri Lankan education system needs to do, in order to meet the requirement of the international industry and academia?

Education in Sri Lanka is very theoretical. But as we enter the international world, we need to know better how to apply the learned theories in practice. Therefore, the mind should be activated from childhood through more practical activities.

Every person’s role is important to the development of a country. Therefore, we should learn to treat every individual role equally. That is the secret of developed countries. Similarly, individual learning skills are diverse. Therefore, a methodology should be developed, from primary education to decision making, to determine the subject and the course of education, based on the skills of each child.