Sri Lankan Couple Receive Masters Degrees from the School of Renewable Natural Resources

A married couple, both from Sri Lanka, both receiving their Masters Degrees in forest products, and both working under the direction of Dr. Rich Vlosky, proudly walked the aisle during this semester’s LSU Spring 2008 Commencement. It is no surprise that both are now pursuing their Ph.D. degrees in forestry, together and also under the direction of Dr. Vlosky. 

 It is rare in deed to have a married couple graduating at the same commencement ceremony but even more rare to have them earning the same degree, not to mention that they are both from the country of Sri Lanka. The School of Renewable Natural Resources congratulates them on their accomplishments and we wish them well in continuing their education at our School.

Priyan Perera was born in 1977 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After successfully completing the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level examination (GCE A/L), he was selected to follow Forestry and Environmental Science Special Degree at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. For his undergraduate thesis, Priyan investigated some wood properties of three plantation timber species in Sri Lanka. He received the Bachelor of Science Forestry and Environmental Science degree on August 2004 with First Class honors. In the fall of 2005 he enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) to pursue a master’s degree in forestry, concentrating on forest products marketing under Dr. Richard P. Vlosky. In the August of 2006, he married  Rangika Bandara. While progressing towards the completion of his master’s degree in forestry, Priyan joined the Department of Environmental Science at LSU to pursue another master’s degree in environmental sciences. His Master of Science (forestry) degree has a strong specialization on forest certification. At the end of spring 2008, Priyan graduated with his MS (forestry). He enrolled in the PhD program in forestry at LSU, and will start his program in summer 2008. His PhD dissertation research will look into modeling consumer behavior in ecotourism. After his PhD, Priyan plans to go back to Sri Lanka and join academia to teach and continue research in his field.

Rangika, Priayn’s wife, was born in 1978 in Rathnapura, Sri Lanka. She has completed the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level examination (GCE A/L) in a girls’ school at Rathnapura. Based on the obtained score for this competitive exam(GCE A/L), she was selected to follow the program: Forestry and Environmental Science Degree at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Sri Lanka. For her undergraduate thesis, Rangika constructed a growth model to predict the individual stem volume of Alstonia macrophylla Wall. Ex G. She received her Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Environmental Science (special) degree on May 2005 with First Class honors. After completing her Bachelor of Science program she married Priyan in August of 2006 and became Rangika Thilaksri Perera. In the fall of 2006 she enrolled at LSU to pursue her Masters’ degree in forestry, focusing on forest products marketing. For her thesis she researched an overview of the wood product import sector in the United States with an emphasis on opportunities for Sri Lankan exporters. Her Master of Science (forestry) degree has a strong specialization on forest products marketing and experimental statistics. At present she is following her PhD program under the guidance of Dr. Richard P. Vlosky at LSU. For her PhD research she would be interested in modeling the best practices of ecotourism for the market segment of ecotourists. She plans to go back to her motherland, Sri Lanka, and join the academia in the future.