Research Associates

Ravindra Deyshappriya is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka and also a PhD candidate at School of Economics, Finance & Marketing of RMIT University, Australia. He holds a first class degree in Economics from University of Peradeniya, followed by a master degree in Development Economics from Nagoya University, Japan. Before joining with Uva Wellassa University, he worked as the Director (Research) at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute attached to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka and as a Research Professional at Centre for Poverty Analysis. His research mainly focuses on empirical analyses based on both development microeconomics and macroeconomics principles.

Vengadeshvaran  Sarma is an Assistant Professor of Business Economics at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia. He received his PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2015. He is interested in policy-relevant research on topics related to education, migration, displacement, structural transformation, and land reform. His current projects examine the educational inequality and compulsory schooling policies in Sri Lanka; the effect of parental migration on left-behind Sri Lankan families; and the role of land disputes and the process of industrialisation in India, Nepal, and Japan.

Hasanthi Tennakoon has a Bachelor’s degree in Development Communication from the University of Philippines and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the University of Tasmania. She is currently pursuing her postgraduate doctoral degree (PhD) in environmental law and economics with the University of Newcastle, Australia. Hasanthi has extensive experience in corporate sustainability and her areas of focus are environmental and social sustainability. She has undertaken research and impact studies under CEPA’s migration and post conflict development thematic and has also worked as a social safeguards consultant for the World Bank.

Tushani Kalugalagedera is a freelance editor/researcher. She has a LLB and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of London, and a B.Sc. in Estate Management from the University of Reading. She received her Masters in Economics from the University of Colombo. Her main areas of interest are in sustainable energy and community based development. Her previous areas of research include microfinance, social welfare and education.

Navam Niles is involved in both academia and research. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of London’s International Programme, where he lectures on subjects including International Relations, International Political Theory, and Global Environmental Problems and Politics. Meanwhile, his research explores the evolution of global governance, especially in the context of transnational problems such as sustainable development and climate change. At CEPA, his work has mostly focused on sustainable development and approaches to national policy coherence.

Tanuja Thurairajah is reading for her PhD at the Human Geography Unit/Department of Geography of the University of Zürich in Switzerland. She has a MA in Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of Innsbruck. Her current research looks at post-war engagement and agency of Tamils of Sri Lankan origin living in Switzerland. She is co-creator of an oral-history project, PROJECT Belonging capturing personal stories of the Tamil diaspora in Switzerland and has produced the ‘diaspora’ segment of the digital commemoration of 30 years of the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983, conceptualised and curated by Groundviews. Her research interests include diasporas, migration and conflict. Tanuja has over a decade of experience working in the development and humanitarian sector in Sri Lanka working for organisations such as Practical Action, Law & Society Trust (LST), GIZ – Sri Lanka and as a researcher for the Consultations Task force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF).