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Nishanta Rajakaruna

Professor | Biological Sciences Department

Portrait of professor Nishanta Rajakaruna

Areas of Expertise

Geobotany

Plant-Soil Relations

Phytoremediation

Rare Plant Ecology

Conservations Biology

Restoration Ecology

Enthnobotany

 

Contact Information

805.756.2836

Email

Department Website | Personal Website

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Biography

Nishi Rajakaruna is a geoecologist broadly interested in how edaphic conditions influence plant and lichen diversity from species to community levels. His primary area of research is on the diversity, ecology, evolution, and conservation of plants and lichens of serpentinite and other heavy metal-enriched rock outcrops. His recent research projects focus on the effects of atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and nutrient-enriched fire retardants on the diversity and ecology of rock outcrop plants and the restoration ecology of rock outcrop habitats degraded due to anthropogenic activities. He has ongoing research in California, Maine, South Africa, Russia and Sri Lanka.


Education

  • Postdoc, Stanford University, Plant Ecology
  • Ph.D., University of British Columbia, Botany
  • M.S., University of British Columbia, Botany
  • B.A., College of the Atlantic, Human Ecology (emphasis Botany)

Research Interests


In the News


Recent Publications

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