The University of New England's international students are high achievers. Earlier this month, Amrit Pal Kaur was named NSW International Student of the Year. Last year, a Sri Lankan colleague was a finalist for the award.
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PhD student Nirosha Kumudini Ranawaka came to Australia three years ago to study insects at UNE - but her passion for community service made her a finalist for 2018's NSW International Student of the Year.
"Research is my strength, but I've had a passion for volunteer work since I was a child," Nirosha said. "If I can do something towards the betterment of the community wherever I'm living, whichever the country, I would love to do it."
Nirosha completed her Bachelor of Science in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, studying ants, then her Masters in moths in snowy North Dakota. She came to Armidale in 2016 with her husband and two daughters (now at Armidale City Public School).
"My family is my priority; as a mother and as a traditional wife, I have a lot of commitments." Time management, she said, is vital to balance academic research and community service.
In her day job, she studies meat ants, a native insect which she calls the king of Australian ants. It's an ecosystem service provider; when the ants make their nests, they enhance the soil. Meat ants are aggressive; they're used to control invasive cane toads. They're voracious; they feed on large animal carcasses, and help to remove them. They help in keeping the integrity of the community, and they're a major component of food webs.
Working with supervisors Prof. Nigel and Dr. Rose Andrew, her research looks at the ants' behaviour, physiology, and population. How, for instance, does climate change affect the ants? What are its temperature tolerance limits? Ants forage in daytime; when the surface temperature increases beyond 50 degrees, Nirosha discovered, they stay inside the nest. While they've adapted to temperature increases, they may be under threat as the world heats up, as temperatures near the ants' critical maximum. This research, she hopes, could be a template study to predict how climate change affects other insects worldwide.
Nirosha also found that meat ants become more territorial and aggressive depending on the methodology used to assess their behaviour. Colour marking and keeping ants in enclosures can make them stressed, and more aggressive.
She also studied their mating practices. Finding out how many queens are in a nest, or how often they couple with drones, is tricky, because the queens are under the nest, and only come out during the mating season, which is hard to track. She used micro-satellite markers to study their mating system and population genetics.
"That's something new for the meat ants that hasn't been heavily covered in the past," she said.
Keen to promote her findings, Nirosha entered the university's Three Minute Thesis competition - and received the People's Choice Award in 2016, and was in the finals last year.
She is in the committee for Culture-Fest, a three-day multicultural celebration in early November, organising performances and food stalls. She is also a facilitator of the Armidale Harmony Group, which celebrates the diversity of cultures in this city.
"I encourage people to join these groups and get involved in the multicultural atmosphere in Armidale, which you can't get in every city," Nirosha said.
Two years ago, she put on an international children's concert where the kids wore traditional costumes, and performed their country's dances and songs. UNE International and local businesses supported the event.
"Armidale is a multicultural community; UNE alone has more than 65 countries represented - but these kids have less opportunity at school to showcase their culture," Nirosha said.
She would like to organise arts and crafts activities or dancing with the Ezidi refugee children.
"We meet them all the time when I go to pick up and drop my kids at school," Nirosha said. "They love dancing!"
For her own community, she presents experts talks on the Sinhalese SBS radio program - about different projects, day-to-day life, or bush fires and climate change. The Sri Lankan community here have always supported her.
"Being with your own country people is an added pleasure," Nirosha said.
Nirosha is a Unibuddy Ambassador, advising prospective students from other countries about academic programs or accommodation. She has also been a student ambassador with the UNE's International Centre, and volunteered with UNE's International Health, UNE Discovery, and the MyScience program in schools.
She thanked her supervisors for their guidance and flexibility; UNE International's Bronwyn Gilson, who nominated her for the NSW International Student of the Year award, and Jennifer Russel; and SBS Sinhalese producer Charitha Adhikari.