11/01/10 - 08:00 MDT - Madhuranga Rathnayake began his journey with GLOBE in 2004 while a high school student at the Maliyadeva College, in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Nandanee Raneweera, he took part in the very first GLOBE Day and Workshop of Sri Lanka. The following year he helped organize the All Island National GLOBE Campaign to promote awareness about GLOBE activities and objectives and for the next several years, GLOBE workshops, student camps, and campaigns became regular annual events. In 2007, the GLOBE Club of Maliyadeva College ceremoniously launched a website dedicated to furthering information about GLOBE activities in Sri Lanka.
These foundational experiences Madhuranga refers to as the "golden era" of GLOBE in Sri Lanka that led to the strong institutionalization of GLOBE in his country through support of the Ministry of Education. Currently a new and more robust website is up and will soon feature interactive elements for all Sri Lankan students.
Madhuranga is now a biological sciences student at the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka with a focus on forestry, agriculture and environmental science. Not wanting to leave GLOBE behind, he helped to establish the GLOBE Alumni Network of Sri Lanka and hopes to inspire young students to fully engage in GLOBE. He promotes GLOBE as a foundational science curriculum not only for students who will sit the university entrance exam, but also for all students whose behavior toward the environment will undoubtedly be influenced by GLOBE studies.
"Every person in this world is consuming resources on the Earth and not thinking about sustainable development," writes Madhuranga. "It's time to make mankind aware of these issues so that we can make real change." For Madhuranga, whose passion and energy for GLOBE has clearly shaped his professional aspirations, GLOBE continues to be a part of his life. "GLOBE is a family," he writes, "and I am happy to be a part of it!"