Dr Dilantha Gunawardana is a Molecular Biologist by training who completed his Ph.D. at the University of Melbourne. Dilantha received the prestigious Sir John and Lady Higgins Scholarship for his Ph.D. studies, which he completed in 2007. In the sciences, Dilantha possesses some level of expertise in molecular biology, biochemistry, plant sciences, molecular genetics, agricultural microbiology, biosafety & bioethics and themes such as pollution and climate change. Dilantha takes great pleasure in science communication, proposal writing & piecing together science entertainment articles.

Dilantha is a researcher in the following topics and areas;

  1. Non-Rhizobial nodulation in Pueraria phaseoloides (Kudzu) and other cover crops used in rubber cultivation
  2. Cyanobionts of Azolla pinnata, a water fern found in rice fields
  3. Symbiotic bacteria including Rhizobia living in nodules of cowpea
  4. Vanadium nitrogenases in cyanobacteria and bacteria
  5. Mitigation of anthropogenic agricultural nitrous oxide production using biological remedies
  6. Wild relatives of rice and their diversity of endophytic nitrogen fixers
  7. Bioremediation and phytoremediation
  8. eIF4E as a biomarker in pancreatic cancer
  9. Conservation of elephants using microbiology and water chemistry
  10. Science Communication