Vidya Jyothi Sarath Wimalabandara Kotagama () is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. He is a

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

and former head of the Department of Zoology,

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

Education

Kotagama obtained a BSc from the University of Colombo, and gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

on the feeding and behavioral ecology of

rose-ringed parakeet The rose-ringed parakeet (''Psittacula krameri''), also known as the ring-necked parakeet, ringneck parrot (in aviculture) or the Kramer parrot, is a medium-sized parrot in the genus ''Psittacula'', of the Family (biology), family Psittacidae. It ...

at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

Career

Since 1974, Kotagama has lectured at the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo and at the Zoological Division, Faculty of Natural Sciences,

Open University of Sri Lanka The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL; , ) is a national university in Sri Lanka. It is unique within the Sri Lankan national university system for being the only university to offer programs of study leading to certificate, diploma, degrees ...

reaching Senior Lecturer - Grade I by 1997. Between 1989 and 1990 he served as Director of the Department of Wildlife Conservation on secondment. In 1997, he was appointed Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo holding it until he gained Professor Emeritus status on retirement. He also served a tenure as Head of the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo. Currently he is a Scientific adviser to the Ministry of Wildlife Resources Conservation. During his career he had served as a Consultant to many government and non-government organizations, as well as being a member of several Advisory Committees in the Central Environmental Authority, Department of National Museums and the Sri Lanka Foundation. He has also served as the past president of

Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, commonly abbreviated FOGSL, is the Sri Lankan affiliate of BirdLife International. It was founded in 1976 to promote the conservation of birds and preservation of the environment. FOGSL headquarters are situ ...

, Vice President of Ecotourism Society of Sri Lanka and member of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Honors

He was awarded the "2003 Distinguished Service Award for Environment Education and Journalism" by the International Society for Conservation Biology and the endemic toad '' Duttaphrynus kotagamai'' is named after Kotagama for the honour. In 2017, he was award the title of Vidya Jyothi by the Government of Sri Lanka. In 2019, a day gecko '' Cnemaspis kotagamai'' was named in honor of Kotagama.

Writings

*Pictorial Pocket Guide 3 - Mammals in Sri Lanka - 2004 *An Illustrated guide to Birds of Sri Lanka (E-book)

References

External links

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
* ttps://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/07/06/new20.html Online edition of Sunday Observer - Businessbr> University of Colombo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotagama, Sarath Living people Sinhalese people Sri Lankan biologists Sri Lankan ornithologists Academic staff of the University of Colombo Vidya Jyothi Year of birth missing (living people)