Nature Youth Fellowship India 2026 A unique, merit-based fellowship offering mentorship, immersive experiences, and a supportive community to help young people strengthen core capacities, nurture mental health, and reconnect with nature and culture with intention and purpose.

Yuvan Aves

Yuvan is an award-winning writer, naturalist, educator and activist based in Chennai. His interests include reimagining an Earth-centric and child-centric education, the reciprocity between languages and ecologies,  and ground-up processes of change and politics. He writes on topics at the intersection of ecology, education, and human/more-than-human consciousness. He is the author of four books, recipient of the M.Krishnan Memorial Nature Writing Award, the Sanctuary Asia Green Teacher Award and Young People for Politics Champion Award. He loves working with children and consults for a number of alternative educational institutions across India.

Kanishka P

Kanishka is a postgraduate in Environmental Sciences who is a nature lover and more interested in conserving the environment. She has been involved in many plantation programs in and around her hometown with the motive of creating a pollution-free environment. She’s also involved in making crafts as her hobby. And now she’s involved in facilitating nature education sessions in schools with the goal of creating awareness for conserving the environment. 

Aravind Selvam

Passionate outdoors person who enjoys working with children. Spent most of his adult years outdoors, climbing, hiking and bikepacking. After a long stint in the outdoor gear manufacturing sector, he has moved to working with children which has always given him immense joy.

Karunya Baskar

Karunya’s work as an artist and nature educator centres around rewiring relationships with wildlife through visual narratives. She is currently based in Chennai and works at Palluyir trust where she designs educational materials, develops nature-based curricula, and facilitates their use in schools across the city. She has also authored and illustrated nature themed picture books for children.

Supriya Mahabaleshwarkar

Supriya Mahabaleshwarkar is a naturalist and researcher who loves to study and explore the relationship between nature and culture. She curates and conducts nature awareness programs. She is presently learning from sacred groves and their natural and associated cultural heritage in the Western Ghats, India. Her ongoing research projects include urban biodiversity and urban ecosystems of Pune. She is co-convenor of the Pune Chapter of INTACH – the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, a not-for-profit organisation in heritage conservation. She is a Training Partner & Kincentric Social Weaver at Kincentric Leadership, a UK based Community Interest Company. Supriya has a Masters degree in Biodiversity from the Savitribai Phule Pune University. She has conducted research on the ecology and community stewardship of sacred landscapes and published materials on natural and cultural heritage bringing together scientific insight and local knowledge. She is actively involved in projects of traditional crafts revival. She is associated as a visiting faculty with several educational institutes in Pune, including Savitribai Phule Pune University. She has mentored students and interns from various academic courses. She embraces holistic wellness through yoga and mindful living practices. When not at work, she can be found on a nature trail with her husband and daughter at their farm or listening to music under a tree.

Abhinandan Saikia

Abhinandan Saikia is an Assistant Professor and presently the Associate Dean, School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati campus. He is associated with the Centre for Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development in the institute. Prior to this, he has worked in organizations like National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS – CSIR), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – India, New Delhi and the United Nations Development Organizations (UNDP), New Delhi. His thematic areas of interest are – Agroforestry, Traditional Knowledge System, Common Property Resources, Innovation and theories of Institutional change. He has been involved with development and environmental projects at national and regional levels, especially for Northeast India in the areas of – natural resource management, disaster management, flood and erosion studies, innovative spaces in industrial ecosystems, aviation studies and community knowledge system. 

Mukul Mahabaleshwarkar

Mukul Mahabaleshwarkar is an environmental researcher adopting an interdisciplinary approach. His core areas of interest are ecosystem services, biodiversity monitoring, conservation, geographical information system and sustainability management. Over 25 years of his professional experience includes a decade of corporate experience in the field of Environmental Research, Sustainability, Strategy, Policy and Corporate Communication. He has completed his PhD in Environmental Science from Savitribai Phule Pune University with Masters in Environmental Science and Masters in Business Administration. He is a Certified Lead Auditor for Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Certified Assessor for CII – EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence. He has mentored and guided number of national and international students at graduate and post-graduate levels. He has authored a number of scientific and popular articles. He is presently exploring how environment and ecological research can contribute to overall wellbeing and happiness in human and more-than-human world. When not at work, you can find him in the kitchen cooking delicious meals for his family or at a local café sharing lighthearted moments with his friends.

Satwik

Satwik is a Master’s student in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati, with a background in Geography (Honours) from the Central University of Karnataka. His work sits at the intersection of environmental sustainability, community livelihoods, and social research.

He has conducted field studies on sustainable farming, human-wildlife dynamics in Kaziranga National Park, and the socio-economic impacts of the Kosi floods in Bihar. His ongoing Master’s dissertation examines how cropping patterns influence household dietary diversity and nutritional sufficiency in Saharsa District, Bihar.

Satwik has presented research at national conferences, completed an internship with Aaranyak (Guwahati) studying urban heat stress, and holds certifications in Environmental Impact Assessment, Statistics using R, and Climate Systems. He has also participated in field exposure programmes with SPREAD NE across Northeast India.

Pranab J. Patar

Dr. Pranab J. Patar is an award-winning environment and sustainability leader with nearly 25 years of experience across think tanks, consulting firms, international development organisations, and multi-stakeholder partnerships. His work spans climate action, nature-based solutions (NbS), biodiversity conservation, water resource management, low-carbon development, and sustainable livelihoods, with a strong focus on translating policy into meaningful impact on the ground.

He currently supports the Government of Assam’s clean growth and climate resilience agenda through initiatives on climate finance, green budgeting, and sustainable development planning. Previously, he served in senior leadership roles within the consulting and non-profit sectors, including as Senior Vice President of a sustainability consulting firm and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Foundation for Advancement of Environment.

Dr. Patar also serves as a Professor of Practice, mentoring and inspiring the next generation of sustainability professionals. Over the course of his career, he has led more than 75 projects, authored 50+ publications, delivered 100+ invited talks, and trained over 15,000 students and practitioners.

A recipient of multiple national and international honours, he is also recognised for his contributions to humanitarian and community initiatives, including his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Neha

Dr. Neha is a sustainability strategist, educator, and advisor with over 25 years of experience advancing climate action, environmental stewardship, and sustainable development across government, academia, industry, and civil society. She has worked extensively at the intersection of water security, climate resilience, behaviour change, environmental governance, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), supporting institutions in translating sustainability commitments into meaningful action.

Neha holds a Ph.D. in reclaimed municipal wastewater use and spent nearly two decades at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), where she served as Senior Fellow and Lead – Strategic Communication for Sustainability, designing and leading multi-stakeholder programmes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. She currently serves as Head – Sustainability & Behaviour Change at Chakra Dialogues Foundation and advises national and international organizations on sustainability strategy, knowledge partnerships, and capacity building.

As a City Mentor and Advisor for the Nature Youth Fellowship – Cities RISE, Neha is passionate about nurturing young ecological leaders and strengthening connections between people, place, and nature. She mentors fellows in exploring urban biodiversity, documenting ecological knowledge, engaging with communities, and developing locally relevant conservation and stewardship initiatives. She believes that empowering youth with systems thinking, ecological literacy, and a sense of agency is critical to building resilient and nature-positive cities.

Neha is a published author, international speaker, and contributor to numerous sustainability platforms, including the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication. She represented India at COP24 and COP25 and is the author of the nationally acclaimed book Let’s Save the Rain.