An Odyssey of space education

Science communicator Leena Bokil is on a global roll with her selection in a Nat Geo programme.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only
Updated on
2 min read

Science communicator Leena Bokil wears many hats—she is National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Honeywell Space Educator; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics educator and chairperson of Women Engineers’ Cell, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, Pune.

Leena Bokil  | Anirudha Karmarkar
Leena Bokil  | Anirudha Karmarkar

Forty-four-year-old Leena’s passion for teaching has often taken her on newer trails, with the latest accomplishment being selection in this year’s Nat Geo’s Global Educator Programme-17 that began on September 1 and will go on till November 30. “The selection was a global recognition like STEM programme,” says the fan of National Geographic.

The Nat Geo Global Educator Programme is an intensive training course for teachers in interdisciplinary areas such as geography, science, technology, and exploration, which comprises online lectures, seminars, and conferences.

“This will make me more skilled as a teacher, not to forget a greater chance to network with global leaders in the field of environment,” says Leena, who lives in Pune.
She says space was always a staple in her home. Growing up listening to scientific tales about the likes of Copernicus and Kepler narrated by her engineer father S S Kulkarni fuelled her interest in astronomy and space science.

“As a kid, I would gaze at the stars. I always dreamt of flying to the moon and stars. My childhood dreams came true when I got selected for the NASA Honeywell Space Educator’s Programme in 2008, which focused on space science and exploration,” says Leena, who majored in telecommunications engineering from the Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum in Karnataka.

She made it to the NASA Honeywell Programme despite a stiff competition, and never looked back. “I am also involved in activities to popularise space science and technology. I work in small towns and at grassroot level. One of my students, Sonal Baberwal from Amaravati, was recently selected in the International Space University, France, for her MS programme.”

These days, Leena is busy writing a science fiction story and a script for a Marathi feature film, and setting up of a space science centre at the Surya Datta Group of Institutes in Pune.

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