Oct 25 2025 to Oct 25 2025 11 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

How can we engage with biodiversity in our localities and backyards—from the many plants and birds around us, to the mysterious spiders, the rain-loving mushrooms, the hidden but chatty frogs and crickets, and even the lice that love to live in our hair? How can we marvel at and magically reveal the secrets of nature around us? For a start—be curious! Nature is everywhere, and so many animals, birds, plants, and insects are leading marvellous and sometimes bizarre lives.

If you love nature and the wonderful life forms that share this world with us, drop by for two parallel sessions with the authors of Be a Neighbourhood Naturalist—a nature activity book filled with hands-on experiments, activities, cool facts, and stunning illustrations that bring the ‘science of nature’ alive.

Children (7+) will take part in a fun, craft-based nature activity—exploring scientific concepts through creativity, observation, and play. Adults will join an in-depth, interactive session on how to introduce children (and adults!) to nature and science through an inquiry-based approach, using questions, exploration, and hands-on engagement.

The book has been created by a team with decades of experience studying the natural world: Labonie Roy, an educational resource creator, art director, and illustrator; Vena Kapoor, an ecologist and nature educator who runs the Nature Classrooms initiative; and Suhel Quader, an ecologist and nature communicator.

Speakers

Labonie Roy
Designer, Illustrator & Artist
Labonie Roy is a designer, illustrator, and artist, working towards creating engaging learning resources for children and adults. Growing up, she spent most of her time peering among plants for bugs, collecting leaves, petting every passing dog, and devouring every nature book and documentary she came across. Not much has changed since then, except that she now shares her passions with others through her work whether it’s creating classroom tools or writing children’s books about the natural world. Her background in Sociology and Anthropology paired with her experience as a learning resource creator helps her weave together stories that celebrate curiosity, representation, and our connection to nature.

Suhel Quader
Scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation
Suhel Quader is a scientist at NCF, and head of the Education and Public Engagement programme there. After an academic focus on wildlife biology, animal behaviour and evolutionary ecology, he has spent the last 13 years concentrating instead on trying to broaden and deepen public engagement with nature. He and his colleagues do this through a spectrum of approaches, ranging from mass communication, outreach, education, citizen science, and capacity-building.

Vena Kapoor
Nature Educator, Nature Classrooms
Vena Kapoor is a nature educator, ecologist and conservation practitioner.  She founded Nature Classrooms – an initiative that connects learning to the natural world. With her team she designs age-appropriate and locally-culturally relevant nature learning modules and activities that can be weaved into the school curricula, and conducts immersive capacity-building training workshops to connect teachers and educators to the wonders of the natural world. She loves integrating her passion for insects, spiders, and community engagement to rekindle and reimagine nature learning in India.