Nehara Pandey

School student, scuba diver, marine activist, conservation communicator

Confident, knowledgeable and creative, Nehara Pandey is an amateur marine conservationist, currently in class XII. Growing up in Goa, she forged a deep connection with the ocean and all its creatures. Always looking for ways to engage with the marine world, she received an Open Water Diver certification at the young age of 11, and is now trained as an advanced rescue diver, emergency first responder, windsurfer, and sailor - a true ocean connoisseur. A leader of her school’s Eco Club, Nehara is constantly busy organising activities to raise awareness about environmental causes amongst her peer group and the general public. Ever creative, she has made short films on the topic of water conservation, of which the short film titled ‘Seventy’, about the effects of ocean pollution, was screened by the WWF- Goa at The Goa Science Centre and at The People Tree, Goa. Balancing school work and her conservation pursuits, during her holidays she has attended various workshops on mapping of areas, wildlife identification, GPS tracking, wildlife survey methods and so on. She has volunteered actively with various organisations such as The Primate Trust, WWF- Goa, Jeevan Jyothi, and Coastal Impact. Her empathy, initiative and passion for marine and wildlife conservation has brought Pandey her many accolades. She was felicitated at The National Institute of Oceanography for ‘Initiative by a young person in the field of ocean conservation’ in 2015, and was Ambassador for the year 2014-2015 under the Tetra Pak Youth Ambassador Program organised by TERI as part of project SEARCH. She also represented India at the World Ocean's Day Organisation's International Youth Advisory Council from 2016-2018. From September 2019, she became possibly the youngest climate correspondent for the Youth Ki Awaaz platform. Pandey aims to study marine biology and continue fighting for our oceans.