About Me


Welcome! I am Malika Nisal Ratnayake, a Research Fellow at the Department of Data Science and AI at Monash University, Australia and a 2024 National Geographic Explorer. My research interests revolve around the intersection of computer vision, artificial intelligence, and ecology, with a specific focus on advancing pollination monitoring for agriculture and conservation.


I completed my PhD in Computer Science at Monash University in 2022, under the supervision of Associate Professor Alan Dorin and Associate Professor Adrian Dyer. During my doctoral research, I designed computer vision and deep learning frameworks for automated pollination monitoring. A significant aspect of my work involved collaborating with farms to develop and implement pollination monitoring systems that met the industry's specific requirements. I was awarded a prestigious National Geographic Society Grant and a Green Talents Award for Outstanding Young Scientists in Sustainable Development in recognition of my research.


Currently, I am employed as a Research Fellow in the Computational and Collective Intelligence group within the Department of Data Science and AI at Monash University. I am actively engaged in a collaborative project with the industry, aiming to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of the Australian agricultural sector through the automation and data-driven transformation of industrial crop pollination. Additionally, I am involved in a National Geographic Society-funded project aimed at designing a camera trap for insect pollinator biodiversity field monitoring and biometric analysis. This initiative seeks to deepen our understanding of insect populations and enhance the sustainability of endangered native insect species.

Publications


Talks and Presentations


Spatial Monitoring and Insect Behavioural Analysis Using Computer Vision for Precision Pollination

Invited poster presentation at "CV4Animals: Computer Vision for Animal Behavior Tracking and Modeling" workshop held in conjunction with Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 2022
Workshop page | Poster | Paper

Tracking Honey Bees with Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence

Invited Talk at the Central Association of Bee Keepers (CABK), United Kingdom (February 2022)
Event page | Youtube Video

Spatial Modelling of Cross-pollination in Crop Systems Through Multi-point Honeybee Tracking

Oral presentation at the 24th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM2021)
Conference page | Youtube Video | Paper
Watch the oral presentation

Towards Computer Vision and Deep Learning Facilitated Pollination Monitoring for Agriculture

Oral and Poster presentation at the "2nd Agriculture-Vision: Challenges & Oppotunities for Computer Vision in Agriculture" workshop held in conjunction with Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 2021
Workshop page | Youtube Video | Poster | Paper
Watch the oral presentation

Tracking Individual Honeybees among Wildflower Clusters with Computer Vision-facilitated Pollinator Monitoring

Poster presentation at "CV4Animals: Computer Vision for Animal Behavior Tracking and Modeling" workshop held in conjunction with Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 2021
Workshop page | Poster | Paper
Watch the oral presentation

Decoding Bees with Video Recordings

Submission for the Visualise Your Thesis Competition (2020)
Video Link

Software


Datasets