Alumnus

Vena Kapoor

Senior Programme Manager, Education and Public Engagement

MPhil Conservation Leadership - University of Cambridge, UK Masters in Ecology - Pondicherry University, India Bachelor of Commerce - University of Madras, India

I have worked on exploring if spiders can be used as natural pest control agents in agricultural systems with the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems in Chennai and as indicators of rainforest restoration efforts in Valparai in the Western Ghats. For a few years I managed the administrative and finance team in NCF's head office in Mysore.
In 2010, I received the Ravi Sankaran Inlaks Scholarship for the MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, UK. Post the course I worked with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative on strategizing and improving the collaborative potential of geographically co-located conservation organisations as a continuation of my MPhil thesis topic.
I re-joined NCF in 2015 and currently head the Nature Classrooms project in Bangalore. We work closely with primary school teachers and educators to develop age appropriate, locally-culturally relevant nature learning modules, curriculum that can be weaved into the environmental sciences subject, using relevant education theory and pedagogical practices.
I also conduct workshops, talks, walks for adults and children to introduce them to the fascinating world of insects, spiders and nature around them.
I hold an MPhil in Conservation Leadership (2010-11) from the University of Cambridge, UK, a Masters in Ecology (2000-2002) from the University of Pondicherry and a Bachelor of Commerce degree (1994-1997) from the University of Madras, India.

Projects

Publications

Supporting conservationists’ mental health through better working conditions

Journal Article

2023

Supporting conservationists’ mental health through better working conditions

Psychological distress and workplace risk inequalities among conservation professionals

Journal Article

2023

Psychological distress and workplace risk inequalities among conservation professionals

Aliens in the society: foreign arthropods and small vertebrates associated with the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch, 1892 (Araneae: Eresidae)

Journal Article

2023

Aliens in the society: foreign arthropods and small vertebrates associated with the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch, 1892 (Araneae: Eresidae)

Samuhik Pahal - a monthly journal by Wipro Foundation:Nature Education

Newsletter

2022

Samuhik Pahal - a monthly journal by Wipro Foundation:Nature Education

Nature Learning Pedagogy

Popular Article

2022

Connecting Learning to the Natural World

Popular Article

2021

Heart Of Conservation: Women for Nature

2021

The Thing About Nature Education

<div class="paragraphs"><p>A dragonfly resting on a wall along a busy city street</p></div>

Popular Article

2021

A Natural Dissonance

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Published in Samuhik Pahal - Volume 2, Issue-4, December 2021</p></div>

Popular Article

2021

Nature and Art - A Natural Synergy

Uncovering the Potential of Nature Learning at Home

Popular Article

2021

Uncovering the Potential of Nature Learning at Home

Nature Underfoot: Wild Flora and Fauna on City Pavements and Waysides

Popular Article

2021

Nature Underfoot: Wild Flora and Fauna on City Pavements and Waysides

A Fulgorid nymph on a wall

Popular Article

2021

Life on the Vertical: Exploring Nature on City Walls

The many-eyed eight-legged beauties of India’s rainforests

Popular Article

2020

The many-eyed eight-legged beauties of India’s rainforests

Tingling our spidey senses

Popular Article

2020

Tingling our spidey senses

(Commentary) Workplace well-being within ecology and conservation academic circles in India

Popular Article

2018

(Commentary) Workplace well-being within ecology and conservation academic circles in India

Popular Article

2018

Spiders: The weavers and stalkers amongst us

Book

2018

Off to see spiders!

Popular Article

2018

I am a Scientist - Interview

Journal Article

2017

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project

Popular Article

2016

An alien in the woods

Popular Article

2016

Monsters in sand pits

Popular Article

2015

Stupendous spiders

Popular Article

2015

The spit in the grass!

Journal Article

2014

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Journal Article

2009

Restoring rainforest fragments: survival of mixed-native species seedlings under contrasting site conditions in the Western Ghats, India.

Journal Article

2008

Effects of rainforest fragmentation and shade-coffee plantations on spider communities in the Western Ghats, India.

Popular Article

2007

Spinners and Stalkers.

Report

2006

Hanging by a thread: Spider communities in rainforest fragments and shade-coffee plantations in the Anamalai hills, Western Ghats, India.

Journal Article

2006

An assessment of spider sampling methods in tropical rainforest fragments of the Anamalai hills, Western Ghats, India.