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Last updated 18th April 2024

Dr Kinkini Hemachandra joined the Huddersfield Business School in 2023 as a Lecturer at the Department of Management, University of Huddersfield, UK. Prior to this position, she worked as a Lecturer, at the Teesside International Business School, Teesside University, UK.

Before her career as a Lecturer in the UK, she joined the University of Huddersfield as a Researcher and then as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Global Disaster Resilience Centre (GDRC), School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield. She was the main researcher for several projects funded by the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) scheme. Her recent research work was in a research project called SECRA (Strengthening University-Industry Collaborations for Resilience Communities in Asia), funded by EU with the aim of strengthening university enterprise collaborations for resilient communities in Asia. She also worked with another EU project called BRITAE (Building Resilience in Tropical Agro-Ecosystems) with the aim of developing joint curricula modules on building resilience in tropical agro ecosystem in Sri Lankan universities. Dr.Kinkini also worked with a UKRI funded project on Integrating Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness into Disaster Risk Reduction. She was the researcher for another EU funded project called CABARET- (Capacity Building in Asia for Resilience Education), aimed in building capacities among higher education institutions in Asia (Region 6) for the development of societal resilience to disasters. In addition, she further contributed another EU project called ESPREssO (Enhancing Synergies for Disaster Prevention in the European Union).

Dr Kinkini completed her PhD at the School of Applied Science, University of Huddersfield, UK under the supervision of Prof Dilanthi Amaratunga and Prof Richard Haigh. Her PhD developed a framework for empowering women in disaster risk governance within the Sri Lankan disaster preparedness system. 

She completed two masters degrees. She further obtained a Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (CTHE) programme, at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is also a part-finalists at the Institute of Chartered Accountant in Sri Lanka (ICASL).

Before moving to the UK, she served as a Senior Lecture at the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka since 2002. She holds several memberships: Member of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) and member of British Academy of Management, UK. During her academic career, she secured several research grants funded by SANDEE and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.