Tharanga Samarakoon
Dr. Tharanga Samarakoon earned her bachelor's degree in botany from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2004. Her undergraduate research focused on a taxonomic revision of Crinum (swamp lilies, Amaryllidaceae) native to Sri Lanka. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Southern Mississippi in 2015, where her research examined the phylogenetic relationships within the tropical plant family Samydaceae (formerly Flacourtiaceae) and included a monograph of the genus Casearia in south-central Asia, covering 13 species.
Her research interests lie in plant systematics, including floristics, molecular phylogenetics, phytogeography, and medicinal plant research. She has a particular interest in medical botany and the traditional uses of plants with therapeutic potential. Regionally, her work focuses on the flora of southern and southeastern Asia as well as the southeastern United States.