
Field of Study:
Environmental Engineering/Environmental Science
Home Institution in the U.S.:
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
Host Institution in Sri Lanka:
University of Peradeniya, Galaha Road
Start Month/Year in Sri Lanka:
November 2024
Duration of Grant:
Nine months
Olivia Mitchell
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, Olivia Mitchell is completing her master’s thesis in environmental science at the University of Oklahoma. With these degrees, she hopes to create innovative solutions for the benefit of both society and nature. For her undergraduate research, Olivia investigated vegetative trace metal uptake and the probable risk to wildlife from its consumption. For her international focus and interests in serving the community, she received a Peace Corps Prep certificate for environmental fieldwork. She has also volunteered her time as a husbandry aid at the Oklahoma City Zoo’s primate’s department.
Olivia’s Fulbright project is researching Sri Lankan primates and their adaptability to habitat alteration and loss. While the Kaludiyapokuna Forest Reserve (KFR) is well protected, encroachment by agricultural and urban development activities has fragmented the landscape and altered the natural habitat. As part of her research, Olivia, in collaboration with the Kaludiyapokuna Primate Conservation and Research Center, is assessing the environmental conditions related to the abundance of the langur subspecies in the KFR and its surroundings. She is also conducting interviews with residents and farmers of Dambulla. Olivia’s dissertation work is expected to guide conservation projects for the recovery of Sri Lanka’s endangered primate populations.