Nethmi Jayaratne Kariyawasam

Extreme Heat and Inequity: Assessing Cooling Poverty, Exposure, and Root Causes

Nethmi is a DPhil student at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) and the Future of Cooling Programme of the Oxford Martin School. Her research focuses on employing climate modelling to develop sustainable solutions for addressing climate challenges, particularly those arising from extreme heat and inequity.

Prior to her doctoral studies, Nethmi graduated with a BArch (Hons) in Architecture from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, with a Gold Medal for the highest overall GPA and two academic awards from the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) for outstanding academic performance. She also received a transfer scholarship to MSA Germany, where she engaged in various sustainable design initiatives and her final year research was nominated for the RIBA President Awards, UK.

Nethmi has previously served as an Assistant Architect where she gained experience implementing sustainable design practices in a professional setting. She represented the young Architecture professionals as a delegate at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Sri Lanka and at the National Youth Dialogue on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship. She also contributed towards educating on sustainability in design as an international jury member and advisor at the INSPIRELI Education Awards and as a part of the project team at the 'Climate Hub' in MSA, Germany.