Professor Wipula Bandara Yapa served the Department of Zoology and Env. Sc., the faculty of Science and the University of Colombo over a period of 25 years in many significant capacities.

Wipula Bandara Yapa was born in 1960 at Muththetuwe gama in Soranathota, Badulla. His father was a distinguish politician, mother was a housewife. He had a very special close bond to his parents throughout their lives. He was the third son of a family of three brothers and three sisters. Wipula started his schooling at Muththetuwegama Vidyalaya and later, at grade 9 came to Colombo for his studies at the Nalanda College.

As a Professor, he had a strong academic carrier. He earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Kelaniya in 1985. In 1992, he completed his M. Phyl in Mammalian Biology at the University of Colombo with the supervision of Prof. Rübsamen, Prof. Ratnasooriya and Prof. Costa. He did his PhD at the Ludwig Maximillians University, Munich, Germany on Animal Behaviour & Communication during 1992 – 1995. He studied the “Acoustic communication of the Mongolian gerbil” for his PhD.
From 1989 to 1995 he worked as a Scientific Officer at Natural Resources, Energy & Science Authority (NARESA). After a short spell as an Assistant Director at NARESA, he joined the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo as a Senior Lecturer in 1995. Throughout his stay in the Department, he was an outstanding lecturer and was committed to promoting not just the Department but also the Faculty of Science and the University of Colombo.

Prof. Yapa’s research career is highlighted by his strong focus in the study of bats. Throughout his 30 years of science career, he committed to understand more about our bat fauna, which is one of the least studied groups in Sri Lankan natural history. He published 30 research articles on bats including an identification guide – ‘A field guide to the bats of Sri Lanka’. He supervised two PhD students on bat ecology and several more are conducting their postgraduate studies under his supervision.

Prof. Yapa is instrumental in establishing the IDEA Lab at the Department of Zoology – a lab devoted to the Identification of Emerging Diseases. With Prof. Sunil Premawansa, Prof. Yapa collaborated with the Robert Kock Institute, Germany to study viruses and animal borne diseases – way before such research become a topic for mainstream media!

Prof. Wipula Bandara Yapa’s contributions were most significant to the greater student and university community. He served as the Director of the Institutional Quality Assurance Unit. His painstaking work and dedication certainly helped to elevate the University of Colombo to the top position during the last University Rankings conducted in 2015-2016.

Prof. Yapa was the Head of the Department from the year 2015 – 2018. His friendly and cordial approach had greatly benefitted both the staff and students. He was a student counsellor and a member of numerous faculty and university committees.
He encouraged his peers and students to treat everybody equally, respect individual rights, etc. He participated in many decision making committees of the university and helped the university administrations to come up with correct solutions during many crisis situations. He lived a full life in academic carrier in the way he wished.

He has been a passionate teacher, sympathetic mentor, thoughtful colleague and a genuine friend. Though he contributed immensely with his knowledge, it is his character, which made the biggest impact in molding his colleagues and students. He was not only a faithful person with a pleasant personality but also was a solid and quality human being. He always advised the junior academics for their betterment. It was always a pleasure to be around him.