26 February 2026 New lecturers bring wealth of knowledge to Environmental Policy and Management students

Dr Priyan Perera is an expert in environmental management, conservation science, and sustainability practice. Dr Waranan Tantiwat is a specialist in environmental economics, the science of quantifying environmental value in easily understood dollar figures.

The programme is delivered in partnership with Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan. Priyan and Waranan will be travelling between the two campuses to deliver the programme. They’re helping Lincoln University export one of its popular degrees across the world.

Priyan Perera spent over 12 years as a senior lecturer and professor at the University of Jayewardenepura, one of Sri Lanka’s top universities. His research focused on sustainable tourism, recreation ecology, and biodiversity conservation.

One of his key research projects has been to help protect pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammals. Despite being totally illegal, the animals are smuggled across the world for their meat and scales. He also served as the South Asian Region Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, Pangolin Specialist Group.

His research was used in IUCN Red List assessment of the Indian pangolin, the world’s most comprehensive guide for classifying species at high risk of global extinction. The Red List influences conservation policies across the globe.

Outside of academia, Priyan has worked as an environmental auditor and sustainability consultant in Aotearoa New Zealand and several other countries, providing him with practical insight into how sustainability frameworks are implemented within industry. The combined academic experience and industry practice allows him to connect theory, policy, and practice.

Dr Waranan Tantiwat has worked as a visiting economic researcher, consultant, bioeconomy scientist and lecturer. She’s researched the art of evaluating elements of our environment that are intangible, such as air and water pollution.

The ability to assign a monetary value to these problems makes it far easier to quantify their effects. That means those in government can easily understand how much damage different types of environmental harm do in relation to a budget.

Environmental economics can also be used to determine where policies need to focus, such as working more on transportation to reduce air pollution.

Waranan and Priyan each bring a wealth of experience to Lincoln University, and you can learn directly from them. Interested? Check out our Master of Environmental Policy and Management.