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INDIGENOUS RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION LAB (IRI)
LATEST NEWS
Sithuni's Ghana Visit Featured on VT News
IRI Lab member and PhD student Sithuni Mimasha was recently featured in Virginia Tech News for her research on Indigenous peoples, climate change, and everyday well-being. The feature highlights her work with Indigenous communities in Sri Lanka as part of the Indigenous Peoples Observatory Network, an international initiative spanning 17 countries.
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Sithuni’s research explores how environmental change affects food systems, health, and daily life, with a strong emphasis on listening to community perspectives. As part of this global collaboration, she also traveled to Ghana to participate in an international partner meeting, engaging with researchers and Indigenous representatives from across the world.
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The feature underscores Sithuni’s commitment to community-centered research, ethics, and global collaboration—values central to the IRI Lab’s mission of advancing socially grounded and impactful scholarship.
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January 07, 2026
Hannah Garbutt Celebrates Graduation as a Double Hokie
We are delighted to share that IRI Lab member, Hannah Garbutt, has graduated with a Master’s degree from Virginia Tech. The commencement ceremony took place on December 19, 2025. As a Double Hokie, Hannah completed both her undergraduate and graduate studies at Virginia Tech, reflecting her long-standing commitment to academic excellence and research.
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Hannah’s graduate work focused on Indigenous-led climate research, with particular attention to the experiences and responses of Vedda women in Sri Lanka. We warmly congratulate Hannah on this important milestone and wish her continued success in her future academic and professional endeavors.
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December, 2025​
Hannah Garbutt Successfully Defends Master’s Thesis
We are pleased to share that Hannah Garbutt successfully defended her Master’s thesis on December 12, 2025. Her research, titled “How Indigenous Vedda Women Experience and Respond to Climate Change: Insights from Sri Lanka,” offers an important contribution to understanding Indigenous perspectives on climate change.​ Hannah’s work centers on the lived experiences of Vedda women, highlighting how climate change affects their daily lives, health, and food systems. Through community-engaged and ethically grounded research, her study documents the adaptive strategies Vedda women use to respond to climate-related challenges while sustaining cultural knowledge and environmental stewardship. Congratulations Hannah!
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December, 2025