Massey University welcomes back first international PhD student

Massey University PhD student Shashi Ekanayake has been granted a border exemption to finish her studies.

Massey University has welcomed back its first PhD student granted a border exemption to enter New Zealand and continue studying.

Shashi Ekanayake, a final-year doctorate student from the School of Veterinary Science, has returned to New Zealand after nearly a year in Sri Lanka.

Shashi's PhD is on dairy cattle lameness, reproduction and milk production in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Her research took her back home just before the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Originally Shashi was to be in Sri Lanka for six months researching for her thesis but Covid-19 and its consequences kept her there much longer.

"While I was working overseas, I had to interrupt my data collection due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the restrictions imposed in Sri Lanka."

As a result of local curfews, Shashi was unable to collect data for nearly two months before completing her collection in early August. She then had another five-month wait to receive a border exemption to return to New Zealand.

She says returning to New Zealand to continue her studies was crucial to finishing her PhD, which is set to fill an important gap in research regarding cattle lameness.

"There is very limited research from New Zealand and Sri Lanka although it is one of the main issues in dairy cows. At the completion of my PhD we will have much more insight into this.

"Since I am in my final year of PhD, direct supervision was necessary especially to help with my data analysis and thesis writing, not to mention having the support of Massey staff and other students around."

Shashi says New Zealand was her dream country in which to study and Massey is one of the best veterinary schools in the world.

"I could not have asked for a better place to study; Massey has fantastic research expertise and renowned scientists who have been amazing PhD supervisors."