Biography
E.R.N.Gunawardena is a Professor of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He completed his BSc in Agriculture from the same university. He obtained his MSc and PhD in Soil and Water Engineering from Cranfield University in UK. During his 30 years of career he served as Head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, and Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Athens, Georgia, USA and worked with the Institute of Hydrology and Oxford Forestry Institute of UK on collaborative research projects.He has published extensively in the areas of hydrological simulation, irrigation, drainage, and watershed management and was involved in formulating the protected area network of Sri Lanka and drafting the forestry sector master plan. His current research interests lies in the area of Integrated Water Resources Management. He was the first country coordinator of the CapNet, a UNDP project on capacity building in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and later became the Executive Director of SaciWATERs in Hyderabad India and the Project Director of the Crossing Boundaries Project, a regional capacity building project on IWRM, Gender and Water. As a consultant, he has undertaken various assignments in Sri Lanka for the IUCN, USAID, ADB, and FAO to translate research into practice. He also served as an international consultant to the UN/ESCAP and UNOPS.