Eric D. Wikramanayake is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n conservationist.

Early life and education

Born to Elanga Wikramanayake, a lawyer. His brothers are

Arittha R Wikramanayake Arittha R Wikramanayake is an attorney at law specialising in corporate law, securities law and trade law. Family Wikramanayake's family association with law can be traced back to Crown Proctorship in Galle in 1848. Education school Like his br ...

and Athula Wikramanayake. His grandfather was E. B. Wikramanayake. Educated at

S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

. Wikramanayake represented the school in Cricket and captained the second XI cricket team coached by

Quentin Israel Quentin Shelton Nagalingam Israel (19348 November 2007) was a rugby coach and a school teacher from Sri Lanka. Education Quenta, known to his friends as 'Q,' went to school at Trinity College, Kandy where he played rugby as a centre three-quar ...

and was a school prefect. Class mates included

Saliya Ahangama Franklyn Saliya Ahangama (born 14 September 1959) is a Sri Lankan Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who played in 3 Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intend ...

Guy de Alwis Ronald Guy de Alwis (February 15, 1959 - January 12, 2013) was a Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 11 Tests and 31 ODIs ODIS, or the Offender Data Information System is a web based, computerized records management software application to imp ...

PL Munasinghe Priyaraj Lakmal Munasinghe, (also known as PL) is a Sri Lankan rugby player. Education Munasinghe was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia Sri Lanka, where as Head Prefect he was awarded the Victoria Jubilee Gold Medal, winning colo ...

Paul R. Mather Professor Paul Rohan Mather is an Australian of Sri Lankan origin who is Professor of Accounting and Finance, School of Accounting, La Trobe University, Australia. School education Mather was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia from 19 ...

, Stefan D'Silva,

Uthum Herat Amal Uthum Herat (15 September 1957 - 23 October 2009) born in Colombo, Sri Lanka was Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. School education Uthum Herat received his e ...

Chanaka Amaratunga Chanaka Amaratunga (19 April 1958 – 1 August 1996) was the founder of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka. Early life Schooled at St Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia where he was a prominent member of the Debating, Drama and Parliamentary societie ...

and

Devaka Fernando Devaka Fernando is a Sri Lankan physician and academic. He was president of the Osteoporosis Society of Sri Lanka and the Founding Professor of Medicine at the University of Sri Jayawardanapura. Education Fernando was educated at Dean Row S ...

. He obtained a BS in Biology (Summa Cum Laude) and

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Biology from

Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...

, Pennsylvania and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

in Ecology from

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

, Davis, California.

Career

He has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant/Visiting Scientist

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, Washington, D.C., USA a Senior Conservation Scientist at

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

, Asia, USA. He is currently a research associate at Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA and a Trustee at th
Centre for Conservation and Research, Sri Lanka
His work has included mammalian biology, ecological structure and conservation of fish assemblages in tropical wet-zone streams of Sri Lanka and the thermal ecology and behavior of monitor lizards, including the largest lizard in the world, the Komodo dragon that lives on three small islands in eastern Indonesia. He has provided technical assistance and advice to WWF's ecoregion-based conservation program and flagship species (elephant, rhino, and tiger) programs in Asia. He is the former Executive Director and the current Chairperson of

Environmental Foundation Limited Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) is a public interest litigation and environmental conservation organisation in Sri Lanka. Established in 1981, EFL seeks to protect and conserve the natural environment through litigation, advocacy, awarenes ...

, a public interest litigation organization that aims to conserve and protect the environment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikramanayake, Eric Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia University of California, Davis alumni Sri Lankan environmentalists Sri Lankan activists Living people Conservationists Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life and education

Career

See also

References