Local Voices in Conservation Programme I co-founded the Local Voices in Conservation Programme with conservation educator Karishma Modi in 2021 with the aim of diversifying conservation research, practice and communication in marginal geographies in India. We piloted this summer school in June 2023 in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, for young professionals from the landscape.
Watch Island Critters - short documentaries on native species of the Andaman Islands made by the 2023 cohort!
5, Environmental Writing Module, Sustainability, Azim Premji University, 2023 I developed and taught a two-day module on Environmental Writing at Azim Premji University for the Sustainability Capstone for bachelors students in January 2023. At this hands-on module for 15 students, I focussed on fundamentals of writing as a skill, as well as reading and writing creative pieces on the environment. Read student articles from this workshop here - 1 (The Clam Collectors of Vembanad Lake), 2 (A forest in A City), 3 (Religious beliefs and conservation), 4 (Fixing the nitrogen cycle) , 5 (Where are all the fireflies?)
John Jay Fellow & Graduate Student Mentor, Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program, 2021-22 I worked as a Graduate Student Mentor (GSM), designing and executing various teaching and mentoring activities through the Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program (CUSP) at Columbia University. From summer 2021, I worked with a diverse team of graduate students across departments and with the CUSP core staff. My responsibilities as a GSM included
tracking summer fellowship commitments
designing and executing a student showcase event and speaker events
designing and executing community building events
teaching the Columbia Journeys Seminar
weekly mentorship meetings through the academic year
Introduction to Statistics for Ecology and Evolution Spring 2019, Teaching Assistant Professor: Evan Eskew, PhD The goal of this course was to introduce data manipulation, visualization, and statistical modeling with an emphasis on applications in ecology and evolution. Students learned several common statistical techniques, including Bayesian theoretical frameworks, through lectures, labs, homework and a personal research project. All materials in the course were based on the statistical software R.
Assisted in lab sessions, helped students write and debug code.
Graded 50% of all assignments (14 weeks for 44 students)
Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates, Jordan Summer 2018, Teaching Assistant Professor: Jenna Lawrence, PhD This intensive six weeks course provides undegraduate students with an opportunity to understand ecology and environmental sustainability in the unique ecological and cultural setting of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This course involved a combination of classroom lectures, field data collection, analysis and an individual research project.
I graded all quizzes (6 quizzes for 15 students) and assisted in mentoring for research projects, both in data collection and analysis. I also assisted in grading both the project proposals and final reports.
I delivered a lecture on trophic cascades linked to a previous research project.
I managed field equipment, interacted closely with students and liaised with the trip coordinator.
Environmental Biology II: Organisms to the Biosphere Spring 2018, Teaching Assistant Professor: Kevin Uno, PhD, Matthew Palmer, PhD and Natalie Boelman, PhD This course for undergraduate majors in environmental biology and environmental science, focused on processes in ecology and evolution. Through lectures and labs, students learned earth history, macroevolution and biogeochemistry.
I was responsible for leading a weekly lab section. Duties each week included preparing and delivering a lecture and leading lab-based data collection.
I was also responsible for grading weekly assignments from labs for 16 students (25% of a total of 48 students) as well as grading three exams throughout the semester.
Environmental Biology I: Elements to Organisms Fall 2017, Teaching Assistant Professor: Shahid Naeem, PhD and Danielle Tufts, PhD This introductory course for undergraduate majors in environmental biology covered topics of biodiversity, origins of life systems, microevolution and genetics.
Led a weekly discussion section and three review sessions.
Prepared and delivered a lecture on osmoregulation, its evolution and diversity.
Graded 33% of three exams in the semester (total=27 students)
Training Workshop for Birdwatching Tour Guides Summer 2016, Instructor Instructors: Krishna Anujan, Chetana Purushotham, Vardhan Patankar, PhD and Zoya Tyabji In collaboration with the Department of Environment and Forest, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, we (four researchers) designed and conducted a four-day workshop and certificate course to train birdwatching tour guides in the archipelago. Combining lectures, role playing games and field trips to different ecosystems and birding hotspots, we taught basic bird identification skills, tour guiding skills and discussed ethical and sustainable tourism to a diverse group of attendees.
Pitched and designed course structure including schedule, syllabus and field trip locations.
Led sessions on Basic Bird Identification, Tourism Ethics, games and quizzes. Led groups on field trips.
Training Workshop for Forest Department field staff Fall 2019, Instructor Instructors: Juilee Palkar, James Tirkey, Ledu Kujur, Sebian Horo and Krishna Anujan We conducted a one-day workshop for field staff of the Silviculture Division, Department of Environment and Forest, Andaman and Nicobar Islands to train frontline staff in making, installing and measuring dendrobands for tree monitoring.
One-day Workshop for Early Birdwatchers Fall 2018, Instructor Instructors: Krishna Anujan, Mythreyi K, Sadaf Sethwala and James Tirkey In collaboration with the Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team and the Andaman Avians Club, I designed and led an introductory one-day workshop on birdwatching for school students in the region. Through a lecture, hands-on activities and a field trip, we introduced students to birdwatching as well as some basic ecology.