Associate Professor

Program: Environmental Science

Email: n62mk@mun.ca

Phone: 709-637-6272

Office: AS 3018

 

Credentials

PhD (Biosystems Engineering, Manitoba), MPhil (Agricultural Engineering, Peradeniya), BSc (Agriculture, Peradeniya)

 

Research Interests

• Soil remediation (electrokinetic, phyto and bioremediation)
• Industrial waste utilization as soil amendment for better soil and crop production
• Precision Agriculture using non-destructive monitoring of soil water content and salinity using Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR)
• Precision Agriculture using digital images for predicting nitrogen  deficiency in plants and soil organic matter.

 

Teaching

ENVS 4069 Fundamentals of Soil Systems, EASC 1000 Earth Systems, ENVS Introduction to Environmental Science, ENVS2430 Energy and the Environment.

 

Representative scholarly contributions

Subramaniam, D., Krishnapillai, M. and Galagedara. (2026) Eisenia fetida as A bioengineering tool for enhancing hydrocarbon contaminants degradation found in pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) Canadian Bioengineering Journal (Accepted for publication)

Subramaniam, D., Krishnapillai, M., Galagedara, L., Manful, C.H., (2026). Optimization of stocking density of Eisenia fetida in bioconversion process of pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS)

and its population dynamics. Applied Sciences, 16, 195. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010195

Pathirana, S., Lambot, S., Krishnapillai, M., Cheema, M., Smeaton, C., Galagedara, L. (2025). Pore-water electrical conductivity assessment: an integrated ground-penetrating

radar–electromagnetic induction approach. Environmental Science Advances, Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5VA00121H

Fernando, S., Galagedara, L., Krishnapillai, M., Cuss, C. (2025) Improving trace element measurement accuracy: Lysimeter cleaning and material effects. Journal of Environmental quality. 2025;1-11. http://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.7006 

Dahunsi, J. Pathirana, S., Cheema, M., Krishnapillai, M., Galagedara, L. (2025). Estimating soil hydraulic conductivity from time-lapse ground-penetrating radar data in podzolic soils using the green-ampt model. Journal of Hydrology, 657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130957

Konara, B., Krishnapillai, M., Galagedara, L. (2024). Recent trends and advances in utilizing digital image processing for crop nitrogen management. Remote Sensing 16(23) 4514. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16234514

Ketheeswaran, K., Shetranjiwalla, S., Krishnapillai, M., Galagedara, L. (2024). Incorporating biochar to make hydrogel composites with improved structural properties, valorized from waste-paper mill sludge and forestry residues using energy efficient protocols. RSC Sustainability, 2(11): 3478-3489. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00332b

Pathirana, S., Lambot, S., Krishnapillai, M., Cheema, M., Smeaton, C., Galagedara, L. (2024). Potential of ground-penetrating radar to calibrate electromagnetic induction for shallow soil water content estimation. Journal of Hydrology, 633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130957 

Pathirana, S., Lambot, S., Krishnapillai, M., Cheema, M., Smeaton, C., Galagedara, L. (2024). Integrated GPR and EMI predicted soil bulk density in podzolic soil. Geoderma, 450(Oct 2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117028

Pathirana, S., Lambot, S., Krishnapillai, M., Smeaton, C., Cheema, M., Galagedara, L. (2024). Potential of GPR to calibrate EMI for shallow soil water content estimation. Journal of Hydrology, 633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130957

 

Current research projects and grants

Evaluating the potential for biogas production from beer liquid waste arising from a recycling plant (2023, PI, Mitacs grant, $30,000)

Predicting nitrogen deficiency and soil organic matter from digital images for efficient fertilization in potato cultivation for reducing nit losses (2022, PI, Living Lab Project, $186,540)

Evaluating the potential for using earthworms to produce commercially viable animal feed and vermicompost biofertilizer from paper mill sludge (2022, PI, Mitacs grant, $30,000)

Evaluating the potential of using a combination of bioremediation and phytoremediation for a hydrocarbon and metal contaminated site (2021, PI, Mitacs grant, $53,332) 

Potential for using paper mill fly-ash as an alternate liming material and mobility and leachability of heavy metals in fly-ash and biochar amended agricultural soils in Western Newfoundland (2020, PI, Provincial funding, $10,000)

 

Memberships and affiliations

Soil Science Society of Canada
Canadian Biosystems Engineering Society
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers