Dr Prabhasri Herath

Contacts

Postdoctoral Reseach Fellow
ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions

Prabhasri Herath is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow affiliated with both the Institute for Climate, Energy, and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) at the Australian National University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

With a robust background in research, Prabhasri contributes to cutting-edge projects at the forefront of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), extreme urban heat, and regional floods. Her research contribution encompasses the integration of NbS and Urban Green Infrastructure for sustainable development practices, aimed at creating sustainable, resilient, and liveable cities to mitigate the impacts of extreme heatwaves.

Currently, her research work is focused on assessing the effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NbS) for flood mitigation in large Australian catchments, aligning with significant projects of ANU & CSIRO, under the expertise of Associate Professor Roslyn Prinsley (ANU), Associate Professor Barry Croke (ANU), Dr. Jai Vaze (CSIRO), and Dr. Carmel Pollino (CSIRO).

Prabhasri earned her PhD from the Fenner School of Environment and Society, College of Science at ANU. Before assuming this position, she worked as a Project Officer and a Research Officer at ANU, a Research Assistant and Academic Instructor at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. Prabhasri holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Green Technology and has a significant publication record from her work.

Research interests

  • Urban heat/ extreme heat
  • Nature-based solutions
  • Urban green infrastructure
  • Climate Change Adaptation and mitigation
  • Environmental Management

Groups

  • P. Herath, X. Bai, H. Jin, and M. Thatcher, “Does the spatial configuration of urban parks matter in ameliorating extreme heat?,” Urban Clim., vol. 53, no. January 2024, p. 101756, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101756
  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin, and X. Bai, “Comparing the cooling effectiveness of operationalisable urban surface combination scenarios for summer heat mitigation,” Sci. Total Environ., vol. 874, no. 162476, 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162476
  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin, and X. Bai, “Effectiveness of urban surface characteristics as mitigation strategies for the excessive summer heat in cities,” Sustain. Cities Soc., vol. 72, no. June, p. 103072, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103072
  • P. Herath, R. U. Halwatura, and G. Y. Jayasinghe, “Evaluation of green infrastructure effects on tropical Sri Lankan urban context as an urban heat island adaptation strategy,” Urban For. Urban Green., vol. 29, no. April 2019, pp. 212–222, 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.11.013
  • P. Herath, R. U. Halwatura, and G. Y. Jayasinghe, “Modeling a Tropical Urban Context with Green Walls and Green Roofs as an Urban Heat Island Adaptation Strategy,” Procedia Eng., vol. 212, 2018, doi: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705818301073
  • W.C.S. Wanasinghe, M.H.J.P.Gunarathne, H.M.P.I.K. Herath and G.Y. Jayasinghe (2018), “Drinking Water quality and chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology in Ulagalla Cascade”  Sabaragamuwa University Journal, 16(1); August 2018, pp. 17-27. ISSN 1391-3166; eISSN 2386-2041 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/suslj.v16i1.7714.
  • H.M.P.I.K. Herath, R.U. Halwatura and G.Y. Jayasinghe. “Vegetation alternatives for urban heat island mitigation- A Green Model to mitigate urban microclimatic changes in Colombo city using ENVI-met software”. ISBN 978-613-9-89137-5. (Book)
  • T. Sugiyama, F. Sharifi, Z. Yao, P. Herath, and N. Frantzeskaki, “Nature Fix for Health Cities: What Planners and Designers Need to Know for Planning Urban Nature with Health-benefits in Mind,” The Nature of Ciites Blog, 2021. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2021/08/30/nature-fix-for-healthy-cities-what-planners-and-designers-need-to-know-for-planning-urban-nature-with-health-benefits-in-mind/ (Blog article)
  • P. Herath and X. Bai, “Blue Green Infrastructure for sustainable cities: Six emerging themes,” Sustain. Sci., vol. 2024 (Under Review).

Conference papers;

  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin & X. Bai (2023), “Feasibility of using green roofs and cool roofs for extreme heat mitigation in Melbourne, Australia”. Oral presentation at Resilient and Responsible Architecture & Urbanism (RRAU) on 20-22 April 2023 at Unitec – Auckland, New Zealand.
  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin & X. Bai (2022), “Realistic urban planning with combined urban surface parameters to mitigate extreme heat during heatwaves”. Poster presentation at Australian Disaster Resilience Conference 2022 (ADRC 2022) on 23-26 August 2022 at Adelaide Convention Centre.
  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin & X. Bai (2022), “Effectiveness of green surfaces to mitigate excess heat during heatwaves” at 14th Ecocity World Summit (Ecocity 2022).
  • P. Herath, M. Thatcher, H. Jin & X. Bai (2021), “Effectiveness of urban surface characteristics for heat mitigation in cities” at TNOC Festival 2021, organized by The Nature of Cities.
  • P. Herath (2020), “Eco-system services of Urban Blue-Green infrastructures: Creating liveable and resilient cities” at the conference of ‘Beyond SDG11: A focus on urban transformation’ organized by Future Earth Australia (Early Career Researcher and Practitioner (ECRP) Program).