Nalaka Gunawardene

Who is Nalaka Gunawardene?

Nalaka Gunawardene was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in February 1966. Trained as a science writer, he has worked as a journalist, broadcaster and development communicator since 1987.

He initially worked as a science journalist in Sri Lanka's English language newspapers, and also freelanced for radio and television. After winning three national awards for outstanding science journalism, he moved on to the development sector, where he worked as an editorial consultant, journalist trainer and communication advisor.

In 1996, he co-founded TVE Asia Pacific, a Colombo-based regional not-for-profit media foundation communicating sustainable development issues through TV, video and the web. As its Director since 2002, he has scripted, directed, produced or executive produced several dozen Asian and global documentaries, including Children_of_Tsunami:_No_More_Tears. In 2006, he called for media content on poverty and development to be recognised as a 'copyright free zone' to enhance their secondary use for public education purposes.

He is the author/editor of several technical books related to science, technology and development, most recently Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book. He was part of the British and South Asian team of researchers associated with the Media South Asia Project that studied the nature of the satellite television revolution which began in the early 1990s and transformed South Asian societies and cultures.