Programme
Schedule
13 – 16 September 2021
Time: 10 am – 3.30 pm
The conference will be a 4-day virtual meeting where participants will interact over a Slack workspace, the link to which will be sent to registered participants closer to the conference dates.
Note :
1. All times are in Indian Standard Time (IST).
2. Abstracts for the Contributed Talks and Posters can be viewed here.

Day 1: Mon, 13 Sept 2021 | |
Time | Event |
10:00- 10:20 | Introduction to the Conference + Slack Platform by Organising Committee Channel: #day1-13sep-gadgil |
10:20- 11:10 | Engaging people in documenting and managing biodiversity by Madhav Gadgil Channel: #day1-13sep-gadgil |
11:15- 11:30 | Rain Gauging – hyper local rainfall data generation by Peeyush Sekhsaria Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-am |
11:30- 11:45 | Citizen Science Action – Protecting the Bawkhals by Sachin Marti Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-am |
11:45- 12:00 | KURMA: An expanding network for chelonian conservation and data collection in India by Sreeparna Dutta Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-am |
12:00- 12:30 | Break |
12:30- 13:30 |
Poster SessionChannel: #day1-13sep-postersStatus and Distribution of Fireflies in Meghalaya; Using Citizen Science Approach – Emma Magdalene Nonglang Macro-Fungi of Indian Sub-continent – Shrey Gupta Tree Species Diversity in Mulund, a Suburb in Mumbai, India – Aditi G.S Nerkar TAG ALONG; A platform for Citizen Scientists, to record tagged bird resightings – Tuhina Katti Bird diversity in Stella Maris College, Chennai – S. A. Vidhya Bihu Bird Count: A citizen science initiative for bird documentation during the festive season – Rupam Bahduri The False Trail: Role of citizen-science for urban biodiversity conservation – Debanngini Ray Documenting Biodiversity of Ukhrul: Learnings and Experience from Our Citizen Science – Ng Ngashangva |
13:30- 14:30 | Break |
14:30- 14:45 | Conservation of City Wetlands through Crowd Studying Odonates in the Marathwada Region, Maharashtra by Ameya Deshpande Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-pm |
14:45- 15:00 | Citizen science and decision making for conservation of livestock biodiversity in India by Debanjana Dey Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-pm |
15:00- 15:15 | The complex of cryptic species complexes: adapting to a changing landscape in citizen science by Arjun Kamdar Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-pm |
15:15- 15:30 | Spread the Word, Bird by Bird by Anandarup Bhadra Channel: #day1-13sep-talks-pm |
15:30- 18:30 | Break |
18:30- 19:30 | Ethical Issues in Citizen Science by Lisa Rasmussen Channel: #day1-13sep-lisa |
Day 2: Tue, 14 Sept 2021 | |
Time | Event |
10:00- 10:50 | The journey of Barefoot Ecologists – beyond numbers and information by Barefoot Ecologists, Barefoot Ecology Program – Keystone Foundation Channel: #day2-14sep-barefoot |
11:00- 11:15 | Capacity building for bird monitoring in Thanamir, Nagaland by Kaushik Sarkar Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-am |
11:15- 11:30 | Assessment of Scope and Relevance of Citizen Science in Indian Higher Education Institution by Shyam S. Phartyal Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-am |
11:30- 11:45 | The use of eBird data for conservation in India by Swaroop Patankar Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-am |
11:45- 12:00 | Prose and Poetry to Citizen Science- Being a Nature Enthusiast by Nishand Venugopal Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-am |
12:00- 12:30 | Break |
12:30- 12:45 | Data Availability of Open Access Biodiversity Information’s in Kerala by Manoj Karingamadathil Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-pm |
12:45- 13:00 | Improving the quality of big citizen science data: Learnings from eBird by Mittal Gala Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-pm |
13:00- 13:15 | AI-based Owl Call Recognition: A Pilot Project by Swaroop Nayak Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-pm |
13:15- 13:30 | Citizen Science and Science, Technology and Innovation: Need and case for a synergy by Krishna Ravi Srinivas Channel: #day2-14sep-talks-pm |
13:30- 14:30 | Break |
14:30- 15:30 | Working Group on Citizen Science Data: Considerations and Best Practices
Channel: #day2-14sep-openhouse |
Day 3: Wed, 15 Sept 2021 | |
Time | Event |
10:00- 10:50 | What motivates a citizen scientist – Teacher and student experiences from around the country by Teachers and Students of SeasonWatch Channel: #day3-15sep-seasonwatch |
11:00- 11:15 | Promoting awareness of insects through the Insect Walk – To Know, Love & Conserve among citizens by Shubham Dhanraj Chhapekar Channel: #day3-15sep-talks-am |
11:15- 11:30 | Being ‘Social’ for Citizen Science by Sayee Girdhari Channel: #day3-15sep-talks-am |
11:30- 11:45 | How SeasonWatch popularized Citizen Science in Kerala by Muhammed Nizar K Channel: #day3-15sep-talks-am |
11:45- 12:00 | Community Science and the Biodiversity Picture: Connecting People & Adding Resolution by Ramnarayan Kalyanaraman Channel: #day3-15sep-talks-am |
12:00- 12:30 | Break |
12:30- 13:30 |
Poster SessionChannel: #day3-15sep-postersA strategy to conserve the bird population during road expansion plans – Prabhakar Sastri Discovery of Woolly-necked stork’s nests, a Near Threatened Species in Kerala – Siji PK Dragonfly Festival, a citizen science initiative – Chetna Kaith Butterfly diversity and associated host plants at Lal Dhori, Junagadh, Gujarat – Vipul Varjangbhai Bamaniya Charotar Crocodile Count: Monitoring crocodiles through citizen scientists – Anirudhkumar Vasava Nature Camps: Helping Children Become Citizen Scientists – Maxim Rodrigues K Days with purple rumped sunbird – Vadivukkarasi . A When we stopped walking the streets what happened to the street dogs? – Anandarup Bhadra |
13:30- 14:30 | Break |
14:30- 15:00 | Fun Sessions: Quiz by WWF | Vote for your fav CitSci logo | Feedback Forms
Channel: #lounge |
Day 4: Thu, 16 Sept 2021 | |
Time | Event |
10:00- 10:55 | Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion in Citizen Science
Channel: #day4-16sep-openhouse |
11:00- 11:15 | Bird collisions with buildings in India: A synthesis of current knowledge by Peeyush Sekhsaria Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-am |
11:15- 11:30 | Avi-fauna Data Collection in Madhya Pradesh thru Bird Surveys by Ajay Gadikar Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-am |
11:30- 11:45 | Evidence of life stage and event specific responses of Danaus butterflies to rising temperatures by Vinayaka G. Hegde Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-am |
11:45- 12:00 | An investigation into the spatio-temporal patterns of the Himalayan Vagrant butterfly by Paul Pop Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-am |
12:00- 12:30 | Break |
12:30- 12:45 | A Malayalee Mango Mystery by Krishna Anujan Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-1 |
12:45- 13:00 | Citizen science as a tool to understand bird migration by Ashwin Viswanathan Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-1 |
13:00- 13:15 | The joy and tears of digitizing historical bird data by Maxim Rodrigues K Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-1 |
13:15- 13:30 | Reeflog – involving divers in citizen science by Suneha Jagannathan Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-1 |
13:30- 14:30 | Break |
14:30- 14:45 | Kerala Bird Atlas 2015-2020: aspects and outcomes by Ashish Jha Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-2 |
14:45- 15:00 | Emerging Moth-ers of Kerala through citizen science by Unnikrishnan MP Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-2 |
15:00- 15:15 | DiversityIndia: Observing India’s biodiversity for 20 years by Vijay Barve Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm-2 |
15:15- 15:30 | Vote of thanks by Organizing Committee Channel: #day4-16sep-talks-pm |
Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Madhav Gadgil
Ecologist
Madhav Gadgil is an Indian ecologist, academic, writer, columnist and the founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. He is a former member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and the Head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) of 2010, popularly known as the Gadgil Commission. His contributions, as a member of the draft committee, has been reported in the preparation of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and the manual he prepared for the People’s Biodiversity Registers has been accepted by the National Biodiversity Authority. His research has been documented by over 250 scientific articles, published in various journals and magazines. He has also published two books, over 40 articles in Marathi and handled a fortnightly column on natural history, in The Hindu. He handles a monthly column in the Marathi daily, Sakal. He is a recipient of the Volvo Environment Prize and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1981 and followed it up with the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

Lisa Rasmussen
Professor and Graduate School Faculty Fellow, Philosophy Department, University of North Carolina—Charlotte
Lisa Rasmussen is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, and Faculty Fellow in the Graduate School, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on ethical issues in research, and she is particularly interested in thinking about ethics in unregulated research areas like citizen science and DIY Bio. She teaches in the areas of bioethics and research ethics. Lisa is also the Editor-in-Chief of Accountability in Research; a Co-Editor of the Philosophy & Medicine book series, published by Springer; and an Associate Editor of Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.

Barefoot Ecologists
Barefoot Ecology Program, Keystone Foundation

Teachers and Students of SeasonWatch
SeasonWatch Project, Nature Conservation Foundation