Dr. Malinda Thilakarathna
Post-Doctoral Scholar
I was born and raised in Sri Lanka, where I completed my B.Sc in agriculture and M.Sc in crop science at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. I completed my Ph.D at the Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada. My PhD research work was on genotypic variability among diverse red clover cultivars for nitrogen fixation and transfer, where it evaluated how red clover cultivars affect different components of soil N cycling, including fixation, transfer and leaching. Main role in the project: Application of microbial biosensor (GlnLux) technology to improve symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume crops in Nepal terrace farming systems. Specifically different Rhizobium strains and micronutrients will be tested on legumes using microbial biosensors to improve symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Nepalese legume crops.