The Department of Chemistry is proud to announce that two of its recent graduates were able to
win the ‘Best Presenter Award’ at the 27 th International Forestry and Environment Symposium
2023 held on the 27 th and 28 th of January 2023. The International Symposium is organized
annually by the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, USJ to provide an
international platform to budding young researchers to present and publish their research
findings.
The two winners were Mr. Sandeep Hemachandra and Ms. Manesha Fernando.
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Mr. Sandeep Hemachandra presented his undergraduate research; ‘Impacts of Organic and Non-
Organic Cultivation Practices on Soil Fertility Parameters of Selected Paddy Lands Based on the
Duration of Cultivation in Wet and Intermediate Climate Zones of Sri Lanka’, under the session
of Geology, Soil and Water Resource Management – Part 1. His research was supervised by Prof.
Pahan Godakumbura and co-supervised by Prof. M. A. B. Prashantha and Dr. Asitha Cooray.
The other award was secured under the session of Environmental Engineering and Green
Technology-Part 1 by Ms. Manesha Fernando. Her undergraduate research focused on the
research area of ‘Preparation and Characterization of NPK Nutrient Loaded Electrospun
Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber Mat to be used as a Slow-release Fertilizer’. Her research was
supervised by Dr. Imalka Munaweera and co-supervised by Prof. Nilwala Kottegoda.
While the Department of Chemistry extends its warmest wishes to the two winners, it also
extends a deep sense of appreciation to all the supervisors and co-supervisors who were
instrumental in this remarkable achievement. It is in fact a testimony to the fact that the
Department of Chemistry continues to provide its undergraduates with the best research
experience it has to offer.