ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Moulding young minds
The first step towards creating a better future is to engage and educate our future. I design experiential and interactive workshops and curricula on marine ecology, biodiversity and conservation practices for students of varying age groups.
If you would like to collaborate for a workshop or long-term curriculum, get in touch
PLANETEERS
October 2019 (Ongoing)
What does biodiversity mean? Does it exist only in rain forests and coral reefs, or can it be explored in our own backyard?
Exploring this theme, I conduct workshops for school students of varying age groups, to engage them with the concept of life on varying levels. We explore biodiversity, its challenges and potential solutions across ecosystems. Starting with microscopic life on land, we progress to multiple coastal ecosystems before swimming our way into the marine world. Out in the ocean, we dive into concepts of marine protected areas, fisheries, livelihoods and marine restoration through experiential modules.
This program is currently conducted in Rameswaram, in association with Quest Academy. If you would like to bring this program to your location, contact me.
WATER BABIES PROGRAM
June 2019 (Ongoing)
The Water Babies Program is a collaborative project I run with Quest Academy. Every Sunday, children from Pirappan Valasai, a small fishing hamlet in the Palk Bay, join me at the beach. They are given free lessons in various water-sports. Their fees? A bag of garbage collected from their beach. This long-term training and mentorship program enables an increase in environmental literacy within the fishing community. At the same time, it also opens alternative career avenues for students talented in water sports.
BUILD YOUR REEF WORKSHOPS
August 2018
I worked at Temple Adventures, a Pondicherry-based dive company for 1.5 years, as Chief Operations Officer of Temple Reef Foundation, their marine conservation wing. I was actively involved in designing marine education curricula. In association with SCUBA diving travel company “Byond Skool...Adventures”, I conducted a series of workshops titled "Build Your Reef" for school students. The workshops covered aspects of basic taxonomy and marine ecology. In addition to this, the program addressed conservation principles and artificial reef construction. Students had hands-on training in artificial reef design, construction and deployment.
Photo by Almas Hirani
