Professor Tissa Illangasekare, an internationally renowned researcher, academic, and engineer in the USA, visited the NSF on 11 April 2023 and held discussion with Prof. Ranjith Senaratne, Chairman of the NSF with a view to initiating collaborative research in areas of mutual interest. Prof. Illangasekare is the Director of the Center for Experimental Study of Subsurface Environmental Processes at the Colorado School of Mines at Golden and the AMAX endowed distinguished chaired professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
He has made outstanding scientific contributions in the fields of Hydrology, Water Resources Development, Global Warming, Alternative Energy Sources, and Environmental Engineering and his current research interests centre round global warming. groundwater contamination from emerging contaminants PFAS (Poly-and Perfluoroalkyl Substance), hydrology, and human health.
During the course of discussion, particular attention was paid to initiate joint work with him related to climate change, contamination of soil, groundwater and atmosphere due to anthropogenic impact and its implications on human health. It was also decided to invite Prof. Jayantha Obeysekare, Research Professor and Director, Sea Level Solutions Center at Florida International University, USA to join the proposed initiative