Eranga Galappaththi

Assistant Professor

223 Wallace Hall

eranga@vt.edu

231-5805

Specialties:

Climate change adaptation, resilience, & vulnerability (community-based research)
Social-ecological systems (fisheries and aquaculture)
Indigenous peoples & knowledge systems (Arctic & Sri Lanka)
Multi-level governance (commons, adaptive co-management)
Systematic literature reviews (tracing & tracking)

My research is aimed primarily at the social dimensions of human-nature systems. I am particularly interested in climate change adaptation, with a major focus on how Indigenous communities and their local food systems experience and adjust to change. I have worked with Inuit (Canadian Arctic) and Vedda (Sri Lanka) communities using place-based participatory research methods, including interviews, participant observations, participatory mapping, scenario building, seasonal calendars, and collaborative artwork. My theoretical approach combines concepts from social-ecological resilience, vulnerability, adaptation, and food security. Also, I have used theoretical aspects of commons, with an emphasis on community-based management, (adaptive) co-management, Indigenous knowledge systems, co-learning, and knowledge co-production. I bring a broader perspective to my research, using systematic literature reviews that contribute to global-level assessments.

Now I am involved in diverse initiatives in this research area, including projects focusing on Indigenous peoples and climate change and examining ways to create ‘usable science’ and policy. I have international research collaborations, including the Arctic Salmon research group (Canada), Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts (Spain), and the Covid Observatories research group (UK). Also, as a contributing author and an expert reviewer/contributor, I have contributed to the sixth assessment report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations report on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems.

Journal articles (peer-reviewed):

· Araos, M., Jagannathan, K. …Galappaththi, E.K., et al. (In Press) Equity in human adaptation-related responses: A systematic global review. One Earth.

· Berrang-Ford, L., Siders, A.R., Lesnikowski, A. …Galappaththi, E.K., et al. (In Press) A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change, Nature Climate Change.

· Sitati, A., … Galappaththi, E.K., et al. (In Press). Climate change adaptation in conflict-affected countries: A systematic assessment of evidence. Discover Sustainability.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Susarla, V.B., Loutet, S.J.T., Ichien, S.T., Hayman, A.A., Ford, J.D. (In Press). Climate change adaptation in fisheries. Fish and Fisheries.

· Thomas, A., Thekritoff, E. … Galappaththi, E.K., et al. 2021. Global evidence of limits and constraints to human adaptation. Regional Environmental Change, 21:85.

· Scheelbeek, P.F.D., … Galappaththi, E.K., et al. 2021. The effects on public health of climate change adaptation responses: a systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries. Environmental Research Letters 16: 073001.

· Turek-Hankins, L.L., … Galappaththi, E.K., et al. 2021. Climate change adaptation to extreme heat: A global systematic review of implemented action. Oxford Open Climate Change, 1 (1): 1-13.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Ford, J., Bennett, E., Berkes, F. 2021. Adapting to climate change in small-scale fisheries: Insights from Indigenous communities in the global north and south. Environmental Science and Policy, 116: 160-170.

· Galappaththi, E.K. & Galappaththi, I.M. 2021. Five key characteristics that drive commonisation: Empirical evidence from Sri Lankan shrimp aquaculture. In: Nayak, P.K. (ed). Making Commons Dynamic: Understanding Change Through Commonisation and Decommonisation. Routledge: New York. 83-101.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Ford, D.J., Bennett, E.M. 2020. Climate change and adaptation to social-ecological change: The case of Indigenous people and culture-based fisheries in Sri Lanka. Climatic Change,162 (2): 279-300.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Ichien, S.T., Hayman, A.A., Aubrac, C.J., Ford, J.D. 2020. Climate change adaptation in aquaculture. Reviews in Aquaculture, 12 (4): 2160-2176.

· Ford, J.D., King, N., Galappaththi, E.K., Pearce, T., McDowell, G., Harper, S. 2020. Resilience of Indigenous peoples to environmental change. One Earth,2(6): 532-543.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Ford, J., Bennett, E., Berkes, F. 2019. Climate change and community fisheries in the Arctic: A case study from Pangnirtung, Canada. Journal of Environmental Management, 250 (109534): 1-11.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Ford, J., Bennett, E. 2019. A framework for assessing community adaptation to climate change in a fisheries context. Environmental Science and Policy, 92, 17-26.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Berkes, F., Ford, J. 2018. Climate change adaptation efforts in coastal shrimp aquaculture: A case from northwestern Sri Lanka. In: Johnson, J., De Young, C., Bahri, T., Soto, D., & Virapat, C., eds. FishAdapt: The Global Conference on Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2018 Bangkok. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Proceedings No. 61. Rome, FAO.

· Galappaththi, E.K. & Nayak, P.K. 2017. Two faces of shrimp aquaculture: Commonising vs. decommonising effects of a “wicked” driver. Maritime Studies 16 (12):1-19.

· Galappaththi, I.M., Galappaththi, E.K., Kodithuwakku, S.S. 2017. Can start-up motives influence social-ecological resilience in community-based entrepreneurship setting? Case of coastal shrimp farmers in Sri Lanka. Marine Policy 86: 156-163.

· Galappaththi, E.K., Kodithuwakku, S.K, Galappaththi, I.M. 2016. Can environment management integrate into supply chain management? Information sharing via shrimp aquaculture cooperatives in northwestern Sri Lanka. Marine Policy 68: 187-194.

· Galappaththi, E.K. & Berkes, F. 2015. Can co-management emerge spontaneously? Collaborative management in Sri Lankan shrimp aquaculture. Marine Policy 60: 1-8.

· Galappaththi, E.K. & Berkes, F. 2015. Drama of the commons in small-scale shrimp aquaculture in northwestern, Sri Lanka. International Journal of the Commons 9 (1): 347-368.

· Galappaththi, E.K. & Berkes, F. 2014. Institutions for managing common-pool resources: The case of community-based shrimp aquaculture in northwestern Sri Lanka. Maritime Studies 13: 1-16.

Book chapter

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