WNPS lecture : ‘Insects - the hidden treasures of Sri Lanka’

Emeritus Professor Jayanthi Edirisinghe and Professor Nirmalie Pallewatta will deliver the Wildlife & Nature Protection Society’s next lecture on August 15 at the BMICH. They will talk on ‘Insects - the hidden treasures of Sri Lanka’.

Invertebrates make up nearly 90% of the world’s biodiversity and insects are the most diverse of all animals on this planet.  They comprise nearly 2/3^rd of all land-living species.  Yet, they remain poorly understood. 

Insects play very important roles in ecosystem functioning, pollination being the most obvious.  They also play a big role in energy cycling in ecosystems and contribute to maintaining the quality of soils and water, aerate the soil, reduce soil runoff by improving texture. 

Pleading the cause of insects, and for our continued survival, are two of Sri Lanka’s leading entomologists, Nirmalie Pallewatta and Jayanthi Edirisinghe.   Nirmalie Pallewatta is a Professor in Zoology and Environment Science at the University of Colombo.

She was a programme officer of the Regional Biodiversity Programme, Asia of the IUCN on sabbatical leave and has contributed to many regional and global environmental programmes.

Her current main research focus is on aquatic insects as indicators of the quality of freshwater streams.

Emeritus Professor Jayanthi Edirisinghe taught Entomology and researched the taxonomy and ecology of several groups of insects at the University of Peradeniya.  She retired in 2014 as Professor of Applied Zoology.

Professor Edirisinghe is a Senior Hays-Fulbright Fellow, a recipient of the National Science Foundation Merit Award for Scientific Excellence, Presidential Awards for Research, National Research Council Award for Scientific Publication and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Science).

The lecture is open to all and entrance is free.