Welcome to the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences
The Department offers teaching and research excellence in Zoology, Ecology, Evolution, Environment Sciences, Immunology, and Molecular Biology. We pride ourselves in being the oldest Department of Zoology in Sri Lanka and on having exceptional academics in our staff. We promote student centric learning and prioritise nurturing budding talents and ideas to foster valuable citizens of Sri Lanka and the world.
The Department offers a comprehensive programme for students entering the Faculty of Science, which embodies the subject areas of Zoology, Environmental Sciences, Immunology and Molecular Biology, and Business & Environment. The programmes are designed not only to provide students with a sound knowledge in these subject areas but also offers opportunities to develop and improve their communication, team work and other soft skills that would support personality development and thus increase their employability.
Come join the next generation of Zoologists, Immunologists, Molecular Biologists, Environmentalists, Academics, Teachers, Researchers, Policy makers, and Entrepreneurs!
Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences
University of Colombo
PO Box 1490
Colombo 00300
Sri Lanka
+94 11 250 3399
office@zoology.cmb.ac.lk
Reach Us
Find Us On:
Facebook: @ColomboDoZEN
Twitter: @DoZEnS_uoc
YouTube: DoZENS UoC
Head
Prof. Devaka K Weerakoon
Email : head@zoology.cmb.ac.lk
EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMMES
People
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Herpetology, Wetland Ecology
- Water and Sanitation
- Pollution Management
- Disaster risk reduction
- Biosecurity and biosafety
- Understanding immunopathogenesis of infectious diseases
- Biomarkers for severe dengue infection
- Diagnostic tools for infectious diseases
- Conservation of threatened animals
- Ecology and behaviour of Asian Elephants
- Human-animal conflict management
- Impact of development on the ecology and conservation of animals
- Management of invasive alien species
- Wildlife management
- Ecotoxicology
- Behavioural Ecology (Elephants, Small Mammals, Birds, Amphibians & Reptiles, Butterflies)
- Wildlife Management (Designing Protected Areas, Park Planning, Interpretation)
- Environment Management (Pollution, Sustainability and Green Business)
- Human Wildlife Conflict
- Wetland Ecology
- Ornithology
- Ecological studies of small mammals, particularly bats
- Ecosystem services of bats
- Social behaviour of small mammals
- Acoustic communication
- Flash communication in fireflies
- Zoonotic diseases associated with bats & small mammals
- Climate change
- Greenhouse gas inventorying
- Carbon cycle research
- Population genetics
- Medical Genetics
- DNA fingerprinting in forensic and kinship analysis
- Patterns of speciation (evolution) in an island biogeographic framework
- Causes and consequences of endemicity in Sri Lankan biota
- Resolving phylogenetic, ecological and phenotypic affinities of rainforest birds
- Using molecular and phylogenetic tools to set priorities in conservation
- Genetic basis of animal vocalization
- Fragmentation and genetic connectivity patterns in suburban tropical rainforests
- Ecology of bird migration in the Central Asian Flyway
- The role of genome and phenome in incipient speciation events
- Reflectance spectrometry and pigment biochemistry of birds in Sri Lanka
- Evolutionary deep-history of gwandwanan lineages in Sri Lanka
- Hydro meteorology
- Environmental flows
- Drought frequency analysis
- Transcriptional regulation in microorganisms
- Synthetic Biology
- Water and wastewater treatment
- Pollution prevention and environmental management
- Cancer and inflammation – Colon cancer & IBD
- Osteoimmunology – Anti-osteoporotic properties of plant extracts
- Reproductive immunology – Male subfertility
- Autoimmunity – Psoriasis
- Heavy metal pollution
- Microplastic pollution
- Taxonomy and ecology of Coleoptera
- Molecular entomology and phylogeny
- Invertebrate biology
The department provides the following services to state and corporate sectors contributing to sustainable national development.
- Environment Impact assessments and Initial Environmental Evaluations
- Biodiversity assessments
- Technical guidance on projects to meet sustainable development goals
- Greenhouse gas inventorying
- Quality assurance review of degree programmes in the state sector as well as non state higher education sector
- Providing technical input to national and sectoral agencies and committees on working towards sustainable development
- Technical guidance on symposia, conferences and other events related to sustainable development and environmental conservation
- Advice to policy makers on national and global developmental issues including, environmental and natural resources, and biodiversity conservation
- Social development through education and community empowerment
The ENTRUST
The ENTRUST (Environmental Training and Research Unit for SusTainability) of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences University of Colombo was established in 2021 to help develop new ideas, innovations, partnerships and to facilitate policy makers to meet environmental and sustainability challenges.
Through its activities the ENTRUST aims to improve implementation of research and environmental education, transfer knowledge and technology on environmental conservation, transfer knowledge on best sustainable practices to society via research and innovation and improve environmental literacy amongst society.
So far, the ENTRUST has conducted awareness raising programmes and has introduced 5 new certificate courses on Conservation Science, Biology for Non-biologists, Ecotoxicology, Climate Change and Ecology and Planning of Landscapes.
History
The Department of Zoology of the Ceylon University College was established in 1924 with Mr. David Raitt Robertson Burt, a graduate of St. Andrew’s University, Scotland appointed as the Lecturer in charge of the Department. The Special degree in Zoology commenced in 1925-26, and in 1928, Wilfred Fernando and Cyril Holmes were awarded the first honours degrees in Zoology in Sri Lanka, by the University of London.
Prof. David Burt was appointed the founder Chair Professor of Zoology in 1940, and when he returned to Scotland in 1947, Prof. Wilfred Fernando succeeded him in 1948, as the first Sri Lankan Chair Professor of Zoology. During the tenures of Prof. Fernando (1948-1963), succeeded by Prof. Hilary Cruz (from 1964-1967), the gradual expansion of the scope of the Department took place. In the next few decades, the Department grew in leaps and bounds under Chair Professors Ms. Mahes Ladduwahetty (1968-1972), K D Arulpragasm (1973 -1986) and W D Ratnasooriya (1987-2014).
An Honours stream in Environmental Science was introduced in 1972, a first in the Sri Lankan University System. In 1997, Prof. Sarath W Kotagama was appointed as the founder Chair Professor of Environment Science. A third speciality study programme commenced in 2014, based on Immunology and Molecular Biology; the fourth Honours Programme, on Business& Environment, was launched in 2017 to cater to an important and emerging need in the corporate sector of Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Succession of chair professors of our department
1948 – 1963
1964-1967
1968-1972
1973-1986
1987-2014
1997-2015
The first Science Laboratory of the Sri Lankan university system
(Right: After renovation in 2017)
Overview
Taking into consideration the emerging trends in global education development and national employment, the Department has incorporated new subject areas as well as modern teaching, learning and assessment techniques. The programme is well balanced and incorporates both in-class teaching and field-based learning components. Students also engage in many activities outside their academic programme that helps to vastly improve their communication and interpersonal skills.
Currently, the Department, staffed by 19 academics holding PhDs in diverse areas of Zoology, Environmental Science, Immunology and Molecular biology, is at the centre of the University’s teaching and research in Zoology/Biology. As the oldest Department of Zoology in the country, with a legacy of a rich teaching/ learning and research culture, it is a vibrant, centre of excellence that trains the next generations of scientists.
Our impact is both local and global, with thousands of alumni serving as academics, researchers, teachers, practitioners, policy makers as well as entrepreneurs and corporate sector professionals.