Dr Shashika Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage

Biography

Dr. Shashika D. Rathnayaka is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen. She is an applied economist specialising in agricultural and food economics, food systems policy analysis, and econometric modelling.

Dr. Rathnayaka holds a PhD in Economics from Griffith University, Australia, where she applied advanced econometric methods to analyse consumer demand and food expenditure behaviour in developing and emerging economies. She is currently a Lecturer in Applied Economics at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich, having joined in September 2025.

Before joining the University of Greenwich, she worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, a Senior Lecturer at Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka, and a Teaching Fellow at Griffith University, Australia. She has also taught postgraduate courses at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and supervised postgraduate students at the University of Edinburgh and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

At the University of Aberdeen, Dr. Rathnayaka worked as part of a multidisciplinary team on projects funded by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) of the Scottish Government. Together with colleagues, she contributed to developing Scotland’s first sub-national food balance sheets and a food self-sufficiency index—key analytical tools that now inform Scotland’s Agricultural Reform Programme and Good Food Nation Plan.

Dr. Rathnayaka’s recent book, Economic Development and Consumption Patterns in Asian Countries (Springer, 2024), along with her publications in Agricultural Economics, Economic Modelling, Applied Economics, Economic Analysis and Policy, Empirical Economics, Agriculture and Food Security, and Public Health Nutrition, reflect her ongoing contributions to evidence-based food policy, demand analysis, and sustainable food systems research.