Biography

Ravindi Nanayakkara recently completed her PhD in Statistics from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, Australia. Her PhD thesis focused on stochastic modelling and statistical analysis of spatial and long-range dependent data. The research findings were applied to analyse cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) data from the Planck mission. The findings of her PhD thesis will provide novel tools for a better understanding of the Universe during its early stages. Ravindi has given several talks at international and Australian seminars and conferences. Her research interests are Spatial Statistics, Applied Statistics, Stochastic Analysis and Modelling, Astrostatistics, Data Science and Statistics Education. In addition, she works as a sessional academic in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University. Ravindi was awarded as a ‘Customer Service Champion’ by the ‘La Trobe University Customer Service Champions Executive Staff’ in 2018 for making a positive difference in students and their studies. She was awarded four consecutive ‘Tutors as Partners’ scholarships in 2019 and 2020 from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University in recognition of her teaching and tutoring skills. She was recognized as an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy in 2021.