Training and Collaborative Research


We contributed to enhance personnel skills in climate research and its applications through on-the-job training, graduate training and through collaborative research.

On The Job Training

Ten staff members have been recruited for our projects. Of these four have left as of December 2005. Three were graduate civil engineers, one chemical engineer and one agricultural engineer. We also have a GIS operator, documentation specialist, web-programmer and a data entry operator. The computational infrastructure, library facilities and journal articles have been provided. Two staff members completed their Masters in Water Resources Management and Oceanography and another a B.S in Information Technology and another is enrolled towards a B.A in Social Sciences.


During a secondment to the Sri Lanka Department of Meteorology, Lareef Zubair provided a four-lecture series on current developments and conducted one on one training.

Two engineers from the Mahaweli Authority were trained for two weeks in 2005, following which the authority has now seconded one of the engineers for a year’s training with us.

Post-Graduate Training

Training post-graduate and undergraduate students in Sri Lanka seems to be the surest means of introducing climate concepts into the wider scientific and engineering community. We have conducted the following lectures at Sri Lankan Universities:

  • University of Colombo: M.Sc Course in eteorology. A 30-hour graduate course on statistical analysis was presented.

  • University of Peradeniya: M.Sc Course in Oceanography, Water Resources, Environmental Engineering and Disaster

    Management.

  • University of Moratuwa: M.Sc Course in Water Resources Engineering

  • In addition, supervision is being provided to two students undertaking thesis research at Columbia University and two undergraduates as summer interns on the Sri Lanka projects.

Collaborative Research

Collaborative research was undertaken with Prof. T.D.M.A Samuel of the University of Peradeniya in tea cultivation and Solar Radiation and with personnel in the Mahaweli Authority. We are actively collaborating with partners in the Anti-Malaria campaign, Tea Research Institute and the Mahaweli Authority.