Newly elected Dean of Faculty of Applied Sciences Prof. Upul Subasinghe assumed duties as the New Dean of Faculty of Applied Sciences today March 16, 2022. University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sudantha Liyanage and many other honorable guests participated in this event held at the board room of the FAS.
Prof. Subasinghe performed in several administrative positions at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura such as the Head of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Coordinator of the MSc Program in Forestry and Environment, Deputy Proctor of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Chairman of the Faculty Research Committee etc. He was the Managing Editor of Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment (2013-2016) and Editor in Chief of Vidyodaya Journal of Science (2018-2021)
Prof. Subasinghe graduated at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura with an Honours Degree in Botany and then he was recruited to the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science as a lecturer. He did his Ph.D in Forest Management at the University of Bangor, Wales, UK. Prof. Subasinghe won scholarships from Asian Development Bank to study Remote Sensing and GIS in Thailand and a Commonwealth Fellowship at the University of Bangor. He also conducted joint research with experts in Curtin University and Edith Cowen University of Western Australia and World Wildlife Fund. Since 2021, he serves as an Environment and Disaster Management Program Associate of the World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC, USA.
Prof. Subasinghe was elected as the president of the Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka in 2007-08 period. He is also a trained Forest Certification Auditor of the Forest Stewardship Council and served as the Chairman of the Expert Committee on Forest Certification of Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment. He is also engaged as an expert in the committees such as The United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Haritha Lanka National Action Plan, Ecosystem Conservation & Management Project, Forestry Sector Master Plan Preparation etc. He was the Team Leader of Development of Forest Certification Standards stipulated by the Forest Stewardship Council for Sri Lanka during the 2019-20 period. He was Chair of the International Forestry and Environment Symposium in 2014, 2018-2022. He is a Director of the Taiwan Agarwood Society since 2013.
