Dr. Prasanthi Perera is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening of the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. She was graduated with a B.Sc. (Agriculture) [Hons.] degree from the University of Peradeniya in 1997 and obtained a Ph.D. (Plant Science) from the same University in 2008. She had been working at the Coconut Research Institute, Sri Lanka from 1999-2008 as a Research Officer and from 2008-2012 as a Senior Research Officer. She was a post doctoral fellow at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) based in Cali, Colombia from 2010-2013 and continued working as a Plant Cell and Tissue Culture Specialist for another year until joining the current position of the Wayamba University.

development of in vitro methodologies for producing homozygous lines in Coconut and Cassava, as a breeding tool, while engaging with other tissue culture methods as well.   Identified research areas as future prospective are improvement of cassava through conventional and unconventional breeding methods and the role of pollen in the agricultural and social perspective.