Dr. Senani Karunaratne is a Senior Research Scientist, Project Leader, and Team Leader of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He received a BSc in Agriculture with Honors from Wayamba University of Sri Lanka in 2006, an MSc in GIS & Remote
Sensing from the University of Peradeniya in 2009, and a PhD in Agricultural Science from the University of Sydney in 2014. He has worked in Australian academic and state/federal government research institutes over the past 14 years. He joined CSIRO as a research scientist in July 2020. He was recognized for his outstanding work with a CSIRO Performance Award in 2021. In 2024, he was selected for the INRAe-CSIRO Exchange Program Award, followed by the prestigious Julius Career Award from CSIRO later that same year. His research focuses on measuring, modeling, and predicting variations present in environmentally important properties and functions in the space and time domains.
Dr. Mohammed Mainuddin is a Principal Research Scientist and the Team Leader of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. He received his BSc with honors in Agricultural Engineering, his ME in Irrigation Engineering and Management, and a PhD in Water Engineering and Management. He began as a Scientific Officer at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute in 1990. Following this, he served as a Research Engineer at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1994 to 2000. He then transitioned to a post-doctoral scientist role at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 2001 to 2003. Returning to Australia, he joined CSIRO Land and Water in Canberra, ACT, initially as a research scientist from 2004 to 2010, and then as a senior research scientist from 2010 to 2016. He was recognized for his effective communication of science by CSIRO Land and Water in 2021. In 2008, he received the CSIRO Chairman Medal for his significant contribution to the MDBSY project, as well as a special commendation from CSIRO for his extraordinary effort in teamwork and personal work realignment to complete this landmark project successfully.
