Ph.D. in Regional Resource Environmental Engineering  - Kagoshima University, Japan (2016 - 2019)

M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering (Soil and Water Management) – Central Luzon State University / International Rice Research Institute, Philippines (2007 - 2009).

B.Sc. in Agriculture (Special) – Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka (1999 - 2003)

Vice Chancellors Excellence award (25th Year celebration) for Most Outstanding Senior Researcher of Faculty of Agriculture (2021)

Award of Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL (2020)

Student Excellence Award - 2019, United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University (2020)

International Atomic Energy Agency  Fellowship to attend a training on Isotopic techniques at IAEA, Austria (2012)

NAM S&T Centre Fellowship to attend ToT in Sustainable rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge at KSCST, India (2010)

ADB (JSP) Scholarship for masteral studies at IRRI, Philippines (2007 – 2009)

M.Sc - Dean's Lister for scholastic excellence (2009)

B.Sc. - First Class (1999-2003)

Administrative

Director/ OTS (AHEAD Operations), Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2020 to date

Editorial Board Member, Rajarata University Journal 2020 to date

Deputy Director/Examinations of Centre for Distance and Continuing Education  of  Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2015 to 2016

Head of the department, Dept. of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL from August 2015 to 2016

Head of the department, Dept. of Soil and Water Resources management, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL from August 2014 to 2015

Deputy Proctor of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka from January 2011 to 2016

Coordinator of University Outreach Center, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL from Year 2010 to 2016

Teaching

Professor in Agricultural Engineering - 2019 to date

Teaching/Research Assistant - University of the Ryukyus, Japan - 2016 - 2019 

Senior Lecturer - 2010 to date

Lecturer           - 2005 - 2010

Temporary Lecturer, Department of Agric. Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna -   2003 - 2005

Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - 2015

Visiting lecturer, Technical College, Anuradhapura - 2014 - 2015

Guest speaker, Irrigation Training Institute, Galgamuwa  - 2013 - 2014

Vice Chancellors Excellence award (25th Year celebration) for Most Outstanding Senior Researcher of Faculty of Agriculture (2021)

RUSL Excellence awards (25th Year celebration) – Top Ten Researchers with highest h- Index (2021)

RUSL Excellence awards (25th Year celebration) – Top Ten Researchers with highest citations (2021)

Award of Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL (2020)

Student Excellence Award - 2019, United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University (2020)

Awarded certificate for the Best paper of the 102nd IASTEM conference held on Seoul, South Korea 2018

Awarded Certificate for Best paper of the International Journal of Applied and Natural Sciences (IJANS) Vol. 5, Issue 4 - 2016

Dean’s Lister for scholastic excellence MS course works - 2009

Won University colors for Cricket - 2001

Won University colors for Elle - 2001

Assessment of water resources in Ulagalla cascade in Anuradhapura District funded by Research publication and higher degree research grant of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - 2016

Surface interpolation methods for water quality studies in shallow regolith aquifer: A study in Malwathu Oya Cascade-I funded by Research publication and higher degree research grant of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - 2015

Field survey on Assessment of Energy Potentials of Agricultural Wastes (National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC)) – 2015

Field Investigations and Prepare an Agricultural Crop Plan for Mahaweli System “L” - (Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka) - 2015

Field survey on Resilience Survey on Climate Change (International Water Management Institute (IWMI)) - 2014

Assessment of surface water quality of Yan Oya Upper Catchment funded by Research publication and higher degree research grant of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - 2014

2017 - Training on GHG emmission estimations in Agricultural lands at University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

2015 - Short Course on GIS and Applications in Agricultural research organized by Department of Social Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 

2013 - Short Course on GIS and Applications organized by Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya 

2012 - Training course on “Isotopic techniques in agricultural water, soil and nutrient management” at IAEA Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Laboratory, Seibersdorf, Austria

2011 - Training workshop Skills for Science Communication to the public conducted by National Science Foundation at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

2010 - ToT program on Sustainable Rainwater Harvesting and Groundwater Recharge in Developing Countries, HRD and Technology Transfer organized by Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology and Department of Science and Technology, India at Bengaluru, India

2009 - Workshop on Experimental Design and data analysis using CROPSTAT conducted by International Rice Research Institute at International Rice Research Institute, Philippines

2009 -  Advanced Scientific Writing conducted by International Rice Research Institute at International Rice Research Institute, Philippines

2007 - GWA South Asia Regional Workshop on Strategic Planning for Mainstreaming Gender in IWRM conducted by GWA and NEWAH at Katmandu, Nepal

2006 - ​National workshop Training of trainers in Recent Advances in Micro Irrigation conducted by Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Department of Agriculture & MARSHAV Israel at ISTI – Gannoruwa, Kandy

2006 - National workshop on Training of Trainers in IWRM conducted by PGIA & Cap-Net at ISTI – Gannoruwa, Kandy

Member of Management Committee of Centre for Distance and Continuing Education  of  Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2015 /16.

Deputy Director/Examinations of Centre for Distance and Continuing Education  of  Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2015 to 2016.

​Member of editorial board of Annual Research sessions of Faculty of Agriculture 2014-2016, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Head of the department, Dept. of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL from August 2013 to 2016

Member of curriculum development committee (Postgraduate diploma and M.Sc. in Rural Agricultural Development) of Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2013/14

Member of curriculum development committee (B.Sc. in Agriculture) of Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2013/14

Member of Management Committee of Staff Development Center of  Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2013 to 2016

Member of Sports Advisory Committee of Staff Development Center of  Rajarata University of Sri Lanka 2013 to 2016

Coordinator and member of editorial board of Student Research sessions of Agricultural Graduates 2013, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Member of editorial board of Student Research sessions of Agricultural Graduates 2012, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Member of Proposal writing group for Quality and Innovation grant under HETC Project for Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Member of the University Senate from April 2012  to 2016

Deputy Proctor of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka from January 2011 to 2016

Member of Farm Development Committee of Faculty of Agriculture 2011 to 2016

Coordinator of University Outreach Center, Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL from Year 2010 to 2016

Worked as the Coordinator of University Village Project Funded by PEACE project in Year 2010-2011

Coordinator and Editor in Chief of 1st Student Research sessions of Agricultural Graduates 2007, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

A resource person of awareness programmes on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) for technical and Field staff of Dept. of Irrigation, Dept. of Agriculture, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka and other relevant agencies in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala and Trincomalee districts organized by Irrigation management division of Dept. of Irrigation and Sri Lanka Water Partnership in 2013-15 at Anuradhapura,Polonnaruwa,Kurunegala and Trincomalee districts.

A resource person of awareness programmes on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) for office bearers of   farmer organizations in Anuradhapura and Kurunegala organized by Irrigation management division of Dept. of Irrigation and Sri Lanka Water Partnership in 2013-14 at Anuradhapura and Kurunegala.

A resource person of Capacity building workshop for Office bearers of Farmer Organizations in Anuradhapura Agrarian Division organized by Department of Agrarian Development in 2015.

A resource person of Capacity building workshop on Groundwater management for Sustainable agriculture in Mahaweli System “L” for officers in Mahaweli System “L” organized by Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka in 2015.

A resource person of the Workshop of Rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging conducted by Sri Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum in 2010 at Anuradhapura.

A resource person of the Training of Gravity flow drip systems for home gardens conducted by Sri Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum in 2008 at Galle.

A resource person of the Central Province Gender & Water Dialogue conducted by NWSDB and SLWP in 2006 at Tholangamuwa HDC, Kegalle.

Member of American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)

Member of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS)

Member of Gender and Water Alliance (GWA)

Life member of Alumni Association of Central Luzon State University

• L. Dhanapala, MHJP Gunarathna, MKN Kumari, M Ranagalage, K Sakai, and  TJ Meegastenna, Towards Coupling of 1D and 2D Models for Flood Simulation—A Case Study of Nilwala River Basin, Sri Lanka, Hydrology, 2022,  9 (2), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9020017
• RR Weerasooriya, LPK Liyanage, RHK Rathnappriya, WBMAC Bandara, TANT Perera, MHJP Gunarathna and GY Jayasinghe, Industrial water conservation by water footprint and sustainable development goals: a review, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-01184-0
• M Ranagalage, MHJP Gunarathna, TD Surasinghe, DMSLB Dissanayake, M Simwanda, Y Murayama, T Morimoto, D Phiri, VR Nyirenda, KT Premakantha and A Sathurusinghe, Multi-Decadal Forest-Cover Dynamics in the Tropical Realm: Past Trends and Policy Insights for Forest Conservation in Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, Forests 2020, 11, 836. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9020017
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, MKN Kumari and M Ranagalage, A Functional Analysis of Pedotransfer Functions Developed for Sri Lankan soils: Applicability for Process-Based Crop Models, Agronomy 2020, 10, 285. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020285
• GY Jayasinghe, SADSS Maheepala, WMCP Wijekoon and MHJP Gunarathna, Review of genetically modified organisms as bio-agents in pollution control: Present status and future perspectives, Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. Accepted.
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, T Nakandakari, M Kazuro and MKN Kumari, 2019, Machine Learning Approaches to Develop Pedotransfer Functions for Tropical Sri Lankan Soils, Water 11 (9), 1940. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091940
• MKN Kumari, K Sakai and MHJP Gunarathna, 2019, Groundwater quality assessment: Application of irrigation water quality index (IWQI) in Malwathu Oya cascade I, Sri Lanka, International Journal of Advances in Science Engineering and Technology 7 (2) (Sp. Is. 2), 6-10.
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai and MKN Kumari, 2019, Emulator based global sensitivity analysis of APSIM-Sugar model: Emulator accuracy assessment, International Journal of Advances in Science Engineering and Technology 7 (2) (Sp. Is. 2), 1-5.
• MKN Kumari, K Sakai, S Kimura, K Yuge and MHJP Gunarathna, 2019, Classification of Groundwater Suitability for Irrigation in the Ulagalla Tank Cascade Landscape by GIS and the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Agronomy 9(7), 351. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9070351  
• M Ranagalage, R Wang, MHJP Gunarathna, DMSLB Dissanayake, Y Murayama and M Simwanda, 2019, Spatial Forecasting of the Landscape in Rapidly Urbanizing Hill Stations of South Asia: A Case Study of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka (1996-2037), Remote Sensing 11 (8), 1743. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11151743
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, T Nakandakari, M Kazuro and MKN Kumari, 2019, Sensitivity Analysis of Plant- and Cultivar-Specific Parameters of APSIM-Sugar Model: Variation between Climates and Management Conditions, Agronomy 9 (5), 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9050242  
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, T Nakandakari, M Kazuro, MKN Kumari and MGTS Amarasekara, 2019, Pedotransfer functions to estimate hydraulic properties of tropical Sri Lankan soils, Soil and Tillage Research 190, 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2019.02.009
• MKN Kumari, K. Sakai, S Kimura, S Nakamura, K Yuge, MHJP Gunarathna, M Ranagalage, DMS Duminda, 2018, Interpolation methods for groundwater quality assessment in tank cascade landscape: a study of Ulagalla cascade, Sri Lanka, Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 16 (5), 5359-5380. http://dx.doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1605_53595380
• MHJP Gunarathna and K. Sakai, 2018, Evaluation of pedotransfer functions for estimating soil moisture constants: a study on soils in dry zone of tropical Sri Lanka, International Journal of Advances in Science Engineering and Technology, 6 (1), Spl. Issue-2, 15-19.
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, T Nakandakari, M Kazuro, T Onodera, H Kaneshiro, H Uehara and K Wakasugi, 2018, Optimized Subsurface Irrigation System: The Future of Sugarcane Irrigation, Water 10 (3), 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030314
• K Gunaalan, M Ranagalage, MHJP Gunarathna, MKN Kumari, M Vithanage, T Srivaratharasan, S Saravanan and TWS Warnasuriya, Application of Geospatial Techniques for Groundwater Quality and Availability Assessment: A Case Study in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka, ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2018, 7, 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi7010020
• MHJP Gunarathna, K Sakai, T Nakandakari, K Momii, T Onodera, H Kaneshiro, H Uehara and K Wakasugi, 2017, Optimized Subsurface Irrigation System (OPSIS): Beyond Traditional Subsurface Irrigation, Water 9 (8), 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9080599
• MHJP Gunarathna, AMKR Bandara, MKN Kumari and GY Jayasinghe, 2017, Application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for the Assessment of Hydrological and Physicochemical Parameters of River Water, International Journal of Science and Nature (IJSN) Vol. 8 No1.
• MHJP Gunarathna, MKN Kumari and DPL Perera, 2016, Water Quality Assessment of Yan Oya in Sri Lanka using CCME Water Quality Index, Journal of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Vol.4 No. 1.
• MHJP Gunarathna, KGS Nirmanee and MKN Kumari, 2016, Geostatistical analysis of spatial and seasonal variation of groundwater level: A comprehensive study in Malwathu Oya cascade-I, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, International Research Journal of Environmental Sciences, Vol. 5, Issue VIII
• MHJP Gunarathna and MKN Kumari, 2016, Water Quality Assessment of a Tank Cascade System using CCME Water Quality Index, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) Volume I, Issue III
• MHJP Gunarathna, KGS Nirmanee and MKN Kumari, 2016, Are Geostatistical Interpolation Methods Better than Deterministic Interpolation Methods in Mapping Salinity of Groundwater?, International Journal of Research and Innovations in Earth Science (IJRIES), Vol. 3 Issue 3.
• MHJP Gunarathna, MKN Kumari, KGS Nirmanee and GY Jayasinghe, 2016, Spatial and seasonal water quality variation of Yan Oya in tropical Sri Lanka, International journal of Applied and Natural Sciences (IJANS) Vol. 05 Issue IV. (Awarded as best paper of the journal, July 2016)
• MHJP Gunarathna, MKN Kumari and KGS Nirmanee, 2016, Evaluation of Interpolation Methods for Mapping pH of Groundwater, International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science (IJLTEMAS) Vol. V Issue III.
• MHJP Gunarathna, AI Ranasinghe, SC Rathnayake and TK De Costa, 2016, Can Canna Indica Use as a Phytoremediation Agent in Mitigating High Pollution Concentrations in Reverse Osmosis Concentrate?, International Journal of Advances of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering (IJAAEE) Vol. 3 Issue I.
• MKN Kumari, RMCP Rathnayake, KMA Kendaragama, MHJP Gunarathna and KGS Nirmanee, 2016, Drinking Water Quality in Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Aetiology (CKDu) Prevalent and Non-prevalent Areas in Giradurukotte - Sri Lanka, International Journal of Advances of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering (IJAAEE) Vol. 3 Issue I.
• DMKM Dhanapala, HB Asanthi and MHJP Gunarathna, 2015, Exposure Analysis of Drinking and Dietary Contaminants in a Selected Population, Padaviya, Anuradhapura, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies (IJMS) Vol. 2 Issue I.
• MHJP Gunarathna and MKN Kumari, 2014, Water Quality for Agriculture and Aquaculture in Malwathu Oya Cascade-I in Sri Lanka , Journal of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Vol.2 No. 1.
• MHJP Gunarathna and MKN Kumari, 2014, Sustainable Management of Malwathu Oya Cascade-I: Present Status and Future Needs , Journal of Agricultural Engineeing Vol.1 No. 1.
• MHJP Gunarathna and MKN Kumari, 2013, Rainfall trends in Anuradhapura:Rainfall analysis for agricultural planning , Journal of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Vol.1 No. 1.

MMM Aheeyar, FRT: S Pathmarajah, MIM Mowjood, MHJP Gunarathna, CS de Silva, 2015, Resilience of Irrigated Farmers to Climate Change Effects, Survey Report Submitted to the Sri Lanka Water Partnership, Colombo,  Water and Climate Change Resilience Program, Global Water Partnership, South Asia 

MGTS Amarasekara, MHJP Gunarathna 2014, Feasibility study on Agro-well farming: Recommendation of farming systems for Mahaweli System - L based on water availability and soil quality (in Sinhala), A report submitted to the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka.

Member of research team of the project on “Modelling the impacts of a variable and changing climate on rice and sugarcane agricultural systems in Sri Lanka” funded by AgMIP 2013-2014