Snakes are both prayed to and preyed upon, in India. In this edition of Nature in our Cities webinar series, learn more about them.

Nature does not merely exist in the forest, but it abounds all around us, even in our cities. Azim Premji University brings you a Webinar series—Nature in our Cities to explore and discuss flora and fauna in our vicinity. 

The webinar is part of the overall #SeekingSustainability initiative. The series will interest people who wish to know more about the environment and urban ecology. 

In this edition, we will talk about snakes, trying to discover the real truth behind these magnificent but reviled species. 

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles. There are more than 3,700 species of snakes on the planet and they are found everywhere except in Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland, and New Zealand. In India, snakes are both prayed to and preyed upon.

To know more about these wonderful reptiles, catch Gerry Martin in conversation with Shashwat DC as he talks about snakes and tackles some of the myths associated with them. 

The talk will be aired live on Azim Premji University YouTube Channel.

Gerry Martin began his career in 1995 at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, under the inadvertent mentorship of Rom Whitaker. As a young assistant curator, Gerry’s duties covered the care of all the reptiles at the park including the breeding group of king cobras. 

In 2000, Gerry became National Geographic Channel’s first Indian ​‘Adventurer’-a face for the channel in Asia. Just three years later, Gerry gave up television to work in the field of education, helping to build a relevant curriculum and enabling children to learn from experiences in the outdoors with an organisation called iDiscoveri Education. 

He combines his various experiences and spearheads work that focuses on conservation. Projects that he runs or is involved with range from community-based, sustainable conservation to snakebite mitigation. 

He strongly believes that conservation in India needs to be made viable for grassroots-level stakeholders. He is the Founder Trustee of The Liana Trust and the Founder of the Gerry Martin Project.

Know more about the #SeekingSustainability initiative here.