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Antony

Nature Educator / Programme Lead (Wetland & River Basin Education)

TREE (research organisation; based in Bengaluru with multiple research stations)

Cohort

3 Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India

Antony is a nature educator and conservation practitioner with a research organisation based in Bengaluru, working from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. His work focuses on the conservation of the River Thamarabarani and its wider basin, engaging children and schools through immersive, field-based programmes that blend ecology, culture, and place. He designs long-duration learning journeys such as Wetland Rovers of River Thamarabarani, taking students across the river’s source-to-sea landscapes (Kurinji, Mullai, Marudam, Palai, Neidal) while strengthening observation skills, stewardship, and emotional connection to local ecosystems. He has also initiated programmes that expand nature education access to children with disabilities, and is developing object-based learning through a mobile “Museum World” model.

Passion Project

Primary Focus Area

Place-Based Environmental Education; Citizen Science & Biodiversity Monitoring

Special Expertise

Wetland education programme design; river-basin ecology; outdoor facilitation; journalling-based reflection; stream macroinvertebrate sampling; bird watching & butterfly counts; soil coring & earthworm comparisons; stakeholder interviews; marine/coastal interpretation (mangroves, beach combing); inclusive nature education (hearing-impaired focus); object-based learning/mobile museum design

Wetland Rovers of River Thamarabarani – a year-long wetland and river-basin education programme with 12 contact sessions (classroom + field), 5 major landscape field trips from source to sea, student journalling, and a culminating cross-school sharing where students present findings and reflections. Includes a school-based “model wetland” (artificial pond) maintained and monitored by students throughout the year.

Communities engaged

School children aged ~10–14 (Classes ~6–9); mixed socio-economic backgrounds (private, government, government-aided schools); teachers; parents; local stakeholders (temple staff, fishers)

Pedagogical Style

Deep field-based experiential learning; inquiry-led observation; citizen-science style sampling and monitoring; reflective journalling; cultural grounding (Sangam landscape concept “Thinnai”); cross-school peer learning; object-based teaching (“teach with objects”)