Nisansala Ganewatta

Nisansala (Nisa) Ganewatta is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (SMNS) at Arizona State University's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences on the West Valley campus. 

In addition to teaching, Nisa serves as the Natural Science Area Course Coordinator for the SMNS, where she supports curriculum development and academic initiatives across the natural sciences area of the school. She is also the course coordinator for General Chemistry I (CHM 113), a New College Teaching Fellow, and serves as a Digital Accessibility Liaison for the New College, working to promote accessible instructional materials and inclusive learning environments.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Nisa earned her Bachelor of Science degree (majoring in Chemistry) with First Class Honours (represents the highest academic achievement an undergraduate can earn at a state university or private higher education institute in Sri Lanka; it is generally awarded to students who maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average, GPA of 3.70 or higher on a 4.0 scale) in Chemistry from the University of Kelaniya, where she also completed minors in Microbiology and Botany. Her undergraduate research investigated the chemical composition of atmospheric bulk deposition in an industrialized region of Sri Lanka. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Oklahoma State University under the supervision of Regents Professor Ziad El Rassi. Her doctoral research focused on developing nanostructured material-based monolithic stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography.

Following completion of her doctorate, Dr. Ganewatta returned to Sri Lanka, where she served as a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Open University of Sri Lanka. In 2018, she and her family relocated to the United States, and she taught chemistry at the University of North Texas before joining Langston University as an Assistant Professor-Tenure Track. After relocating to Arizona with her family, she joined Arizona State University in 2021, where she teaches undergraduate chemistry and contributes to initiatives that support student success and excellence in STEM education.