Researcher supports Indigenous communities in finding accessible solutions to global problems

Eranga Galappaththi has a passion for finding unique, sustainable solutions to global challenges faced by Indigenous communities.

Galappaththi has dedicated more than 10 years to studying the social dimensions of human-nature systems, particularly within 11 Indigenous communities in Sri Lanka and the Canadian Arctic, examining their responses to various natural and human-made problems. During that time, he has helped bring together researchers, Indigenous community members and decision-makers across 17 countries to share information, inform public policy, and develop unified responses to global emergencies. 

"Within these different Indigenous communities, we want to identify real community needs, wants, and strengths and how they can use those strengths to build resilience toward each specific issue,” said Galappaththi, assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Geography.   

Recently, Galappaththi and his collaborators were one of 11 new projects to win the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation competition. Coordinated by Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund and supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, this nearly $26 million multilateral initiative aims to fund projects that harness world-class expertise to address the global challenges caused by climate change. 

“The goal is to always conduct 50/50 research,” Galappaththi said. “[Meaning that] the work done needs to benefit both the research and the community that is being studied and leave space for community, collaborations, knowledge, and corporate action, specifically related to climate, food, and health issues.”   

Originally from Sri Lanka, Galappaththi has a personal connection to his research areas. For his Ph.D. work, he focused on small-scale fisheries, aquaculture systems, and seafood supply chains within Indigenous communities within his home country and the Canadian Arctic, but then he expanded his reach during the COVID-19 pandemic.    

“During the pandemic, we started the COVID-Observatories research program, which exposed me to the public health component of the challenges these communities were experiencing,” Galappaththi said. 

Established to develop a real-time understanding of lived experiences during COVID-19, the program, now known as the Indigenous People Observatory Network, expanded outside of its pandemic focus in early 2023. The program is a collaborative initiative that brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, Indigenous communities, and decision-makers across 17 countries and responds to other global emergencies that impact these areas. It also increases Indigenous knowledge and capacity to inform policy development and catalyze actions that build on community strengths and address potential vulnerabilities. 

With public health now an element of his research, Galappaththi launched a project in 2023 aimed at addressing social-ecological problems specific to Indigenous communities. With support from the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment’s (ISCE) Scholars Program and unsolicited funding, Galappaththi hopes to foster resiliency through participatory research. 

“Eranga is leveraging his deep knowledge and strong research skills as he eagerly focuses to address community needs identified through engagement and collaboration. This approach encourages equitable research practices and aligns well with the vision of ISCE and the work of many of our signature centers, programs, and investigators,” said Karen Roberto, University Distinguished Professor and the institute’s executive director. 

“ISCE’s help gave me the boost I needed to travel to Sri Lanka and build connections with communities outside of the coastal-Vedda communities that I have been working with since 2016,” Galappaththi said. “Because of the institute's support, I was able to create observatories in nine other communities in Sri Lanka that my team continues to communicate with on a monthly basis.”    

For this project, Galappaththi worked alongside graduate students such as Sithuni Mimasha from the Department of Geography, who accompanied him on the trip to Sri Lanka.

“This was my first time conducting fieldwork, and it was a great experience for me. We spent a month visiting nine communities across Sri Lanka and conducted over 100 interviews. I gained knowledge, skills, and made friends that I still talk with today,” said Mimasha.

Instead of bringing his own research questions, Galappathi spends significant time with each community to co-develop questions relevant to them.  

“After speaking with elders of these communities, I realized I needed a different approach,” Galappaththi said. One elder explained to him, “People were visiting to speak with me to find solutions to their own research problems, not to find answers to our community’s problems.”   

Galappaththi’s collaborative work within these communities contributes to the United Nations’ Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions Sustainable Development Goal to promote peaceful and inclusive societies. The outcomes of these collaborative projects will advance the design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies for groups impacted greatly by climate change, work that reflects the Virginia Tech Global Distinction commitment to foster international collaboration as a force for positive change.

“The focus has always been to find answers to help solve each community’s problems, but these solutions need to be something they can continue to implement once we are done with our study, and not just a temporary fix,” Galappaththi said.