Prof. Sewwandi Jayakody

Chairperson,
Marine Environment Protection Council (MEPC)

Prof. Sevvandi Jayakody is a Sri Lankan academic, researcher, and environmental policy expert, currently holding the position of Chair Professor in the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries at the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Her academic foundation began with a B.Sc. (Special) in Zoology (First Class and Batch Top) from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka (1996), followed by a Post Graduate Diploma (Batch Top) from the Wildlife Institute of India (1998), culminated in a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen, UK (2005). Prof. Jayakody's research career has been supported by international awards, including a Commonwealth PhD Scholarship and subsequent Commonwealth Post Doctoral Fellowship at the James Hutton Institute, UK, as well as the Endeavour Post Doctoral Fellowship in Australia and an IDRC, Canada Fellowship. Her influence extends significantly into international and national environmental governance. This year she has been selected to serve as Vice Chair of the Science Technical Review Panel for the International Ramsar Convention. Geneva and member of Commonwealth Blue Charter.
Nationally, she holds technical roles such as Chairperson to the National Mangrove Expert Committee, Chairperson of the Marine Environmental Council (MEPA), Advisor to Mangrove Restoration to Department of Wildlife Conservation and Department Forest, Member to to National Blue Carbon Task Force, Environmentally Sensitive Area Steering Committee, National OCEMs Steering Committee and Marine Steering Committee She was also a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and an Assistant Director in the Sri Lanka Scientific Service at the Department of Wildlife Conservation, and postdoctoral fellow in James Hutton Institute, Scotland, CSIRO, Australia and IDRC, Canada.
She currently serves the Board of Wildlife and Nature Protection Society and works with non governmental agencies and scientific societies actively. Her research focuses on responses to human disturbances by ecosystems specially in coastal ecosystems and wetlands, environmental policy and governance where she has published widely and supervised students and managed research projects.