Sachini Sienna Witharanaga

Master of Sustainability (Professional) Student

Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

I am Sachini Thilakarathna, a Master of Sustainability (Professional) student undertaking the research pathway. I completed my Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Applied Sciences at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and it was through the undergraduate research experience that I developed a genuine interest in sustainability and the systems that shape our environment.

My current research sits at the intersection of climate science, agricultural economics, and land-use modelling. I am exploring how climate interventions affect food demand, agricultural production, land use, and livelihoods in Australia. Central to this work is LUTO2, Australia's high-resolution, spatially explicit land-use optimisation model, which I am working with to improve its simulation of the economic and environmental consequences of future agricultural change. My contribution focuses on enhancing the model's economic realism to better reflect the market dynamics that drive land-use decisions across Australia. I find it genuinely exciting to bridge disciplines, bringing a scientific mindset into a field that demands both technical depth and real-world policy relevance