Maheshika is a Research Associate in the Department of Geography at King’s and part of the project, Pathways to Equitable cities. They completed their undergraduate degree in Economics at University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and served as a Lecturer in Economics at the faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Maheshika was awarded a full scholarship to undertake doctoral studies attached to the Global Disaster Resilience Centre of University of Huddersfield, UK.

Maheshika’s PhD thesis titled ‘A framework to analyse the consequences of post conflict reconstruction intervention; the case of road infrastructure in Sri Lanka,’ was a political economic analysis of the government’s intervention in road reconstruction since the end of violent ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

During their PhD, Maheshika worked as a research assistant for several projects related to conflicts and disasters and as a graduate teaching assistant for the School of Architecture at the University of Huddersfield.

Maheshika has experience as a research associate attached to the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI)/ UK Med at the University of Manchester, the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhood (SLHC) at the University of Glasgow and the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) at the University of Glasgow.

Research

• Conflict and climate emergency
• Rebuilding/recovery through reconciliation
• Decolonising participatory research
• Decolonising climate adaptation emergency

Maheshika is passionate about issues related animal rights, peace, and climate justice, applying principles of collective effort and contribution in their current work on the Pathways project, and working towards shaping a better future. Their work aims to bring significant changes to policy implementation in cities through engagement with policy makers and the communities.

Maheshika plays a significant role in co-production of knowledge with partners and to manage potential power imbalances within this process.

Further details

See Maheshika's research profile