RONO HILLS, SEP 29:
Scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Bengaluru, led by Dr Mittal Gala, Project Coordinator, Bird Count India and Subansiri Road Show, conducted a one-day Nature Education Workshop at Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) to promote citizen science activities and strengthen biodiversity documentation skills among students.
The programme was organised in collaboration with the Department of Zoology and the Centre for Wildlife Research and Rehabilitation, RGU, for undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students of life sciences. It aimed to train participants in biodiversity surveying, documentation and nature journaling using conventional methods as well as modern tools and technologies.
Head of the Department of Zoology Prof D Das welcomed the NCF team and appreciated its efforts towards nature education and capacity building. He said such citizen-science initiatives were important in Arunachal Pradesh amid concerns over declining biodiversity.
The programme began with a morning nature walk to document campus biodiversity, followed by technical sessions comprising lectures, quizzes and indoor exercises. Samakshi Tiwari sensitised participants on birdwatching and demonstrated the use of eBird and Cornell University’s Merlin Bird ID app for bird identification.
Nizar Muhammad explained how seasonal changes can be tracked by observing the phenological stages of plants and introduced participants to SeasonWatch and its tools. Abhisheka Krishnagopal introduced the Early Bird programme and demonstrated basic nature-journaling techniques, including regular observation, sketching and recording of natural history.
Prerna Chandak provided training on documenting and registering campus biodiversity through the Nature on Campus programme.
The workshop concluded with a hands-on field session involving 63 participants, who practised using SeasonWatch, Merlin Bird ID, eBird, Early Bird and Nature on Campus tools, along with nature-journaling techniques, while surveying biodiversity on the university campus.
