AGCI Workshop Participation
Biography
Dr. Obeysekera served as a member of the federal advisory committee which directed the development of the National Climate Assessment in 2014. He was also a co-author of the sea level rise projections report published by NOAA for the National Climate Assessment and served as a member of the Coastal Assessment Regional Scenario Working Group associated with the Department of Defense in the United States. In South Florida, he chaired the expert group that developed the 2019 Unified Sea Level Rise Projections for the Southeast Regional Climate Compact.
He is an expert in water resources modeling, planning, and management including adaptation to sea level rise and climate change. Prior to joining FIU, he was the director of a large modeling group at the South Florida Water Management District and served as the technical lead for the topics of climate change and sea level rise. While at SFWMD, he organized several workshops of emerging topics such as Deep Uncertainty, Nuisance Flooding, and Saltwater Intrusion which included national and international participants. He has served on four committees of the National Academy of Sciences to review sustainable water resources investigations in states of Oregon, California, and Texas.
Dr. Obeysekera holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Sri Lanka, M. Eng. from University of Roorkee, India, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University with specialization in water resources.
Dr. Obeysekera has published over 55 research articles in numerous peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Obeysekera is a recipient of the 2015 Norman Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.