K.W.G. Rekha Nianthi is a Professor in Geography at the University of Peradeniya. She received her B.A. (Hons) first class in Geography from the University of Peradeniya, M.Sc from AIT, Thailand, Ph.D. from NEHU-India, and the Postdoctoral qualification from the University of Minho, Portugal. She was a visiting scholar in the International Environment and Disaster Management Laboratory, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. Prof. Nianthi has been awarded a Presidential Scholarship by the Sri Lanka Government for researching at the Mainz University, Germany in 2005. Her research interests include Climate Change and Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. She authored many research papers which are published in local and international publications. She also serves as the consultant for various National and International Projects. She worked as a consultant for various projects under PLAN Sri Lanka. She was appointed as the project leader of the Building Resilience to Tsunami in the Indian Ocean: A joint project of ADRRN (Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network) and Kyoto University, Supported by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and EU, in 2007. She is a member of the Asian University Network of Environment and Disaster Management (AUEDM) and a member of the editorial board of the Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management (AJEDM). She has delivered a keynote on the exchange of Doppler weather radar data in SA countries for accurate flood forecast, on the 6th International Conference on Climate Change and Sustainable Water Resources Management Innovative Geospatial Solution, 9-11th November 2017, Bangalore University, India. She has participated as one of the Guests of Honours on the Post Century Diamond Jubilee, International conference on Urban Agriculture, 14-15th February 2018, Madras University, India. She was the conference chairperson of the 7th International Conference on Climate Change Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development through Geospatial Technologies (CDSGeo-2018), conducted by the Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya and Bangalore University, 24-25th November 2018, Sri Lanka. She received an “Excellency Awards” for outstanding research in the field of Geography from the UGIT in 2018. The Impact and Policy Research Institute, CDECS, and the State of economic development in South Asia have invited to deliver a special talk (#webPolicy talk) on the Nationally determined contribution to climate change in Sri Lanka, October 23rd, 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYx-lto7r5w). Prof. Nianthi is the Peradeniya representative of the Board of Directors of the South Asian Alliance of Disaster Resilience Institute (SAADRI), https://saadri.net/ourTeam, Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation, and Management-Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. She is the Peradeniya University Project Leader of the Project on University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Indian Ocean Rim (UN4DRR), https://www.un4drr.com/partnerscopy, Co-Funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union (EU). Currently, Prof. Rekha Nianthi was the Head of the Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya from January 2020 to January 2023. A speech given on World forum for intangible cultural heritage-Traditional knowledge, thoughts and practices concerning nature and humanity-by NIHC-UNESCO-ICHCAP-Republic of Korea, 21st to 23rd September 2022 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUE2Ya4l1eM). IMPRI, Impact and Policy Research, India, invited her to deliver an online international monsoon school program under the theme of Understanding the Nuances of Climate Change in the Indian Subcontinent: Impact and Way Forward, on “Climate Change Assessment and Economic Impacts” (https://www.impriindia.com/insights/participants-climate-change-india/). She is one of the contributing authors to the Working Group II - Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the Asia chapter 10. Delivered a keynote speech at the international seminar on "awareness of international market" 29-30 September 2023, Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India at the SEWA SAMITI under the Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises government of India new Delhi.
