Dr. Nalin Fonseka is an assistant professor of mathematics in the College of Health, Science, and Technology at the University of Central Missouri (UCM). He also served as an assistant professor of mathematics at Carolina University from the Fall of 2020 to the Summer of 2023 before joining UCM in the Fall of 2023.

Dr. Fonseka earned his doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 2020 under the direction of Dr. Ratnasingham Shivaji. Prior to joining UNC-Greensboro, Dr. Fonseka earned his master’s degree in mathematics at Eastern Illinois University, USA in 2015, and his bachelor’s degree in 2009, at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He has taught various undergraduate-level mathematics classes since 2010 including hybrid and online classes. 

His research focuses on Differential Equations (Nonlinear Elliptic Boundary Value Problems) and Mathematical Ecology (Steady State Reaction-Diffusion Equations modeling population dynamics, including the density-dependent dispersal on the boundary and effects of exterior matrix hostility). In particular, he studies positive solutions to classes of steady-state reaction-diffusion equations where a parameter influences the equation as well as the boundary conditions. To date, he has collaborated with over 8 researchers including an ecologist.  His research work has resulted in articles published in several journals including the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems, Series S, Topological Methods in Nonlinear Analysis, Advances in Nonlinear Analysis, and Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering.