Prof. Sampath S. Seneviratne

Professor in Zoology

Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences
University of Colombo
Colombo 00300
Sri Lanka

Office: Dean’s Office  – Room 03
Work Phone: +94 71-0821177
Work Fax: +94 11-258 3148
Email: sam@sci.cmb.ac.lk
Research Group: Avian Evolution Node (AviEN)

Lab: Laboratory for Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Prof. Sampath Seneviratne website : http://evolution.cmb.ac.lk/

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • PhD 2008

    PhD in Evolutionary Ecology

    Memorial University, St. John’s, NL, Canada

  • BSc 2002

    BSc in Immunology and Parasitology

    University of Colombo

  • NSERC

    Post Doctoral Fellow

    National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

  • UBC

    Post Doctoral Fellow

    Biodiversity Research Centre – University of British Columbia (UBC)

Teaching

  • ZL1009 Evolution and Biogeography
  • ZL2011 Biosystamatics
  • ZL3082 Foundations of Molecular Ecology
  •  ZL 3073 Animal Kingdom
  • ZL3087 Conservation Genetics
  • ZL3088 ZL3088 – Applications and Management of Genetic Resources
  • ZL4063 Ornithology
  • ZL4065 Wildlife Management
  • ZL 4081 Phylogeography & Evolution
  • ZL4083 Bioinformatics & Functional Genomics

Research Interests

  • My research interests are rooted in the studies of island biogeography, causes of endemicity and the evolution of novel traits. My approach uses both field- and laboratory-based research grounded in a strong conceptual framework to address processes underlying trait divergence and species (trait) boundaries. I use various methods to understand these processes such as Behavioral studies, basic counts, field experiments, genetic and genomic tools, Satellite Tags, Illumina NGS genomic platforms and bioinformatic tools. Sri Lanka in particular offers a great assortment of species assemblages to study critical questions related to speciation in island biogeographic framework.