DASNR
International
Student of the Week
Home Country:
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: , Tamil; known as Ceylon before 1972) is an island nation in South Asia, located about 31 kilometers (19.3 mi) off the southern coast of India. Popularly referred to as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, it is home to around twenty million people.
Due to its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia, and has been a center of Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times. Today, the country is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation, with nearly a third of the population following faiths other than Buddhism, notably Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the population, with Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, forming the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include the Muslim Moors and Malays and the Burghers.
Famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, rubber and coconuts, Sri Lanka boasts a progressive and modern industrial economy and the highest per capita income in South Asia. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka's tropical forests, beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage, make it a world famous tourist destination.
After over two thousand years of rule by local kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands beginning in the 16th century, before the control of the entire country was ceded to the British Empire in 1815. During World War II, Sri Lanka served as an important base for Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese Empire. A nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century with the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the British after peaceful negotiations in 1948. Source Wikipedia.
Devinka Chamali Nanayakkara Bamunusinghe
December 2007
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From the Department of Plant Pathology...
Sinhalese and English.
Devinka has been involved in different research projects. She volunteered as a technician in the laser capture microdissection lab at Fox Chase Cancer Research Institute in Philadelphia, right after she joined OSU to work in research about determination of sub-cellular localization of Potato virus X replicas during infection. She has two publications from this research and she is hoping to get one more. She has presented posters and oral presentations in annual meetings in Madison, Wisconsin and Ardmore, Oklahoma. She is a member of the American Society of Virology and the Oklahoma Microscopy Society. She is also a current member of the Sri Lanka Student Association in where she was Treasurer in 2006 and Sports Coordinator in 2005.
Devinka enjoys listening to music, watching movies, hanging out with friends, and shopping in her free time. She is the third in a family of four children. She has two elder sisters and one younger brother. One of her sisters is a lawyer and the other a physician who is married to a physician and has a son and a daughter. Devinka’s brother is working for an insurance company. Her dad was a proprietor who passed away 9 years ago.
Devinka came to the States after finishing her bachelors in the University of Ruhuna, one of the prestigious universities in Sri Lanka. Her main goal was to pursue graduate education. Although graduate studies are possible in Sri Lanka, she wanted to do it in a place with cutting edge technologies, so Oklahoma became the home for her dreams.
Devinka was looking for a research opportunity in the field of molecular biology and virology and she came associated with her current advisor who has this field of research, so Devinka decided to join her lab. Future plans for Devinka are to pursue a career in scientific research in the field of molecular biology and cell biology. Her advisor is Dr. Jeanmarie Verchot-Lubicz Devinka’s advice to International Students: “Doing graduate studies in a foreign country allows us to experience many new technologies, knowledge and a whole world of wonderful opportunities. You can get the experience of a multi-cultural society. So my advice to an incoming international student is to not stick to the classroom and the lab. Make time to meet new people from different countries, get the experience of the whole world around you.”
Interview by Sandra Rodriguez
A waterfall in Sri Lanka, above.
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