Sambita Modak:
2024 Creature Conserve Scholarship Recipient
For her scholarship project, Sambita began developing a conservation-themed board game and interactive art pieces based on scientific research on human-primate interactions. Artworks, including an interactive map art developed for the project, were showcased at outreach exhibitions organised by Zooreach and SCCS Bengaluru 2024. The work is currently being adapted and developed further for local outreach in Barekuri, Assam, and in North East India as part of Sambita’s engagement with researcher Ishika Ramakrishna (PhD scholar at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, India) and her team.
Sambita and collaborators began by creating illustrated maps of the home ranges of the Barekuri gibbon families based on GIS maps. The goal was to combine research data with community understanding to represent the fine-scale nuances of the habitat structure, composition, and variability, and the risks and benefits experienced by the gibbons in this changing landscape.
“The initial goal was to develop an interactive artwork that could be adapted into an analog or digital board game to represent the opportunities and challenges faced by this isolated population of gibbons. A longer term goal is to develop this information into a citizen science tool for participatory mapping and monitoring of the local gibbon population and the changing landscape to facilitate conservation action planning.” - Sambita Modak
Sambita on the left and Ishika on the right with baby Puali's portrait at outreach event by Zoo Outreach Organisation
SAMBITA MODAK is an artist and educator with a PhD in behavioral ecology from Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. Sambita is currently working at the intersection of science, interactive media, and conservation, with a strong interest in innovative and engaging approaches to community-based conservation, sustainability, and public engagement.
Bengaluru, India.
Instagram: @wrong_tool_i