Curriculum VitaeShermin R. de Silva |
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Contact Information | ||
Department of Biology Leidy Laboratories University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018 |
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING | ||
2004-Present | Doctoral candidate, University of Pennsylvania Graduate Group of Ecology & Evolution, U.S.A. Advisors: Cheney, Dorothy L. and Seyfarth, Robert M. |
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1998-2002 | B.A. Biology & Philosophy, University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A. | |
2000-2001 | University of Leeds, England. | |
2006 | Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing for Wildlife Managers - Smithsonian Institute Conservation and Research Center | |
POSITIONS HELD | ||
2010 – Present | Trustee, Elephant Forest and Environment Conservation Trust (EFECT), Sri Lanka. | |
2005 – Present | Founder and director, Uda Walawe Elephant Research Project. | |
LANGUAGES | ||
English: Native Sinhalese: Native, spoken and written Sri Lankan Malay: Native, spoken only French: Spoken and written CITIZENSHIP : Sri Lankan-American (dual) |
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HONORS & AWARDS | ||
2009 | International Ethological Conference 2009 travel grant | |
2009-2010 | International Elephant Foundation conservation research grant | |
2006-2008 | NSF-IGERT Language & Communication Science Graduate Fellow | |
2007 | Wilidlife Without Borders- Asian Elephant Conservation Program, US Fish & Wildlife. | |
2007 | Animal Behavior Society Student Research Award | |
2005 | Binns/Williams Grant for Research in Ecology and Evolution, University of Pennsylvania | |
1998-2000 | Alumni Leadership Scholarship, University of California at Berkeley | |
1998 | National Society of Collegiate Scholars honoree | |
RESEARCH
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2005-Present | Field researcher. Social organization & acoustic communication of free-ranging Asian elephants at Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka. Local collaborator: Dr. Devaka Weerakoon, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka | |
2002-2004 | Research assistant. Context of groan vocalizations by spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), Berkeley hyena colony. Advisors: Dr. Steve Glickman, Depts. of Psychology/Integrative Biology and Dr. Frederic Theunissen, Dept. of Psychology, UC Berkeley. | |
2000 | Research assistant. Secularism and Islam in Europe, national constitutions within & outside Europe. Advisor: Dr. Renate Holub, Dept. of Interdisciplinary Studies, UC Berkeley. | |
1999 | Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, Spatial memory and caching behavior of free-ranging fox squirrels. Advisor: Dr. Lucia Jacobs, Department of Biology, UC Berkeley. | |
TEACHING EXPERIENCE | ||
2004-2009 | Teaching assistant, University of Pennsylvania,Department of Biology BIOL 219, Introduction to Brain and Behavior (1 semester) BIOL 231, Animal Behavior (3 semesters) BIOL 121, Molecular Biology of Life, laboratory (1 semesters) |
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2002 | Democratic Education at Cal (DeCal), UC Berkeley "Prelude to a Non-Profit" - Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (1 semester) |
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PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS | ||
2005-Current | Animal Behavior Society (Student member) Ecological Society of America (Student member) |
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2004 | Association of Women in Science (Student member) | |
PAPERS | ||
de Silva, S.R. 2010. “Acoustic communication in Elephas maximus maximus, the Asian elephant.” Behaviour, 147(7), 825-852. | ||
de Silva, S.R. Ranjeewa, A.D.G., Weerakoon, D. In preparation. “From individuals to societies: multi-level social organization of the Asian elephant in Sri Lanka.” | ||
de Silva, S.R. S. A. Kryazhimskiy & J. Dushoff. In preparation. “Inferring group structure from space-use in a social mammal, the Asian elephant.” | ||
de Silva, S.R. In preparation. “On predicting elephant population dynamics.” | ||
de Silva, S.R. Gamage, A.R.D., Weerakoon, D.K. In preparation. “Demography of Asian elephants from identified individuals at Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka.” | ||
POSTERS, CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS AND REPORTS | ||
de Silva, S.R. 2009. “Circles of Friends: Social organization of the Asian elephant.” | ||
de Silva, S.R. 2008. “Saved by a thread: the status of Asian elephants in Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka.” | ||
de Silva, S.R. 2008. "The Asian Elephant Vocal Repertoire." | ||
de Silva, S.R. August, 2008. "Uda Walawe National Park Elephant Population Status Report." | ||
Glaeser, S.S., de Silva, S.R., Cook, M.L.H., 2007. "Acoustic communication in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus)." | ||
Glaeser, S.S., de Silva, S.R., Cook, M.L.H., 2007."Acoustic communication in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus)." | ||
PRESENTATIONS | ||
“Circles of Friends: Social organization of the Asian elephant.”
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“Acoustic communication in Elephas maximus maximus, the Asian elephant.”
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“Saved by a Thread: the status of Asian elephants in Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka.”
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“Saved by a Thread: the status of Asian elephants in Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka.”
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“Circles of friends: socio-ecology of the Asian elephant."
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“Social organization and vocal communication in Elephas maximus, the Asian elephant."
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“Circles of friends: socio-ecology of the Asian elephant."
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“Social organization and vocal communication in Elephas maximus, the Asian elephant."
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ORGANIZING EXPERIENCE | ||
2003-2004 | Youth Coordinator - EarthTeam, bay-area based nonprofit promoting environmental activity with high school students. | |
2001-2002 | Co-founder and president - The Environmental Coalition, UC Berkeley. | |
2001-2002 | Society for Conservation Biology, Berkeley student chapter. | |
2001-2002 | Organizer - Earth Weekend Climate Change Conference, UC Berkeley. | |
2000-2001 | People and Planet student network, United Kingdom. | |
1999-2000 | Students Organized for Using Resources Conscientiously and Efficiently (S.O.U.R.C.E.) | |
This page was last updated in June 2010 | ||