The Future of Animals is in Our Hands: My Role as a Data Scientist in Wildlife Conservation

Thiyanga Talagala on using data science and forecasting to analyse animal movement and protect Sri Lanka’s wildlife, at WOMBAT 2026.
Published

December 1, 2026

December 01, 11:00 AM

The Future of Animals is in Our Hands: My Role as a Data Scientist in Wildlife Conservation

Sri Lanka has been ranked the world’s most beautiful island to visit in 2025 by global travel authority Big 7 Travel. One of the country’s greatest attractions is its remarkable biodiversity and wildlife, which draw visitors from around the world and make tourism an important contributor to the national economy. But our wildlife is challenged by changing environmental conditions due to rainfall patterns, landscape changes, and climate phenomena such as El Niño. Protecting animals and understanding how they respond to these changes is therefore not only an environmental responsibility but also essential for sustaining one of Sri Lanka’s most valuable tourism assets. In this talk, I present the tools and forecasts I have developed to analyse animal movement data. This helps us better predict and protect wildlife.

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Thiyanga Talagala

Thiyanga Talagala

Thiyanga S. Talagala is a senior lecturer in the Department of Statistics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. She earned her PhD from Monash University, Australia. She is also a co-founder of R Ladies, Colombo, Sri Lanka. She was ranked as the jury's best speaker at the UNESCO-OWSD short talk-big impact Global Finale in 2025. Her current research explores mathematical concepts embedded in historical artefacts in Sri Lanka, using machine learning and artificial intelligence.