Schoolyard Scientists

30/12/2025

Here we mark the second workshop in our learning journey with schools in the central hills 💚

It is wonderful to see how children's faces light up when they find various species right in their schoolyard. We conducted a bioblitz, trained them to be storytellers building their confidence on public speaking.

Children's world is amazing. They just need an opportunity to explore and experience the outside world to grow.

This program is funded by and organised by , finances are hosted by

18/10/2025

🦎✨ This tiny lizard lives right in a schoolyard in Nuwara Eliya…

This marks the next step of our Schoolyard Scientists journey, taking curiosity from the classroom straight into the wild. 💫

From September 25–27, we went on our first field visit under the Rhino-Horned Lizard Conservation Project, funded by the The Rufford Foundation and finances hosted by Earthlanka.

We met 75 bright students and 5 teachers at Paynter Memorial School, talked about biodiversity and lizards in Sri Lanka, and introduced them to the project that begins right in their own schoolyard, where the Rhino-Horned Lizard (Ceratophora stoddartii) quietly lives among them.

In the coming year, we’ll explore the ecology of this wonderful species and share what we learn with neighbouring schools in Nuwara Eliya.

This is a journey where children learn to learn and connect with their everyday spaces. 💚

Stay tuned for our monthly updates. 🌿

Read more about the project here: https://www.rufford.org/projects/eshadi-mendis/conserving-the-rhino-horned-lizard-and-montane-biodiversity-through-community-led-schoolyard-conservation-in-nuwara-eliya/

📸 Macro headshot by Nimantha Abeyrathne; full body shot by Eshadi Mendis; student and workshop photos by Lasal Rathnasooriya and Nimantha Abeyrathne; team photos by Eshadi Mendis.

08/07/2025

🌿✨ Calling all young nature explorers!

Are you 18–25, curious about conservation, storytelling, and spending time outdoors? Here’s your chance to jam with like-minded youth and National Geographic Explorers!

🗓️ Young Nature Explorers Jam
📍 American Corner Matara | July 23–25
💡 FREE workshop — food & lodging covered. You only cover your travel!

You’ll dive into birdwatching and field sessions, camera trap demos, storytelling and photography, grant writing tips, games, quizzes, networking — plus earn a certificate.

🚀 Apply by July 13, 2025
🔗 Scan the QR or head to 👉 bit.ly/YNEJ2025

Note: This is a three-day workshop, and attendance is required for all three days. This is a competitive application for limited spots — so bring your best!

Funded by the National Geographic Society and organised with Fulbright Sri Lanka & American Corner Matara.

Bring your curiosity. Find your story. Let’s explore together! 🌱🦜📸

Young Nature Explorers Jam is your invitation to step off the beaten path and get wildly curious about the world around you. This fully funded, three-day adventure, funded by the National Geographic Society and organized in collaboration with the Fulbright Commission and American Corner Matara takes...

15/06/2025

Our founder Eshadi Mendis in DC at the National Geographic Explorers Festival featuring Schoolyard Scientists at Exhibit Hall ❤️

Thank you National Geographic Society

06/06/2025

දරුවොන්ට ලෝකය හඳුන්වලා දෙන්න syllabus එකෙන් එහා ගිය අලුත් වැඩක්! ❤️

අපි අලුත් වැඩක් පටන් ගත්ත. අරමුණ තමයි, මේ රටේ දරුවො සොභාදහමෙන් ඈත් වෙන එක නවත්තන එක, ඒ වගේම, මුහුදෙන් එහා ලෝකය ගැන, syllabus එකෙන් එහා තියෙන අපූරු වැඩ පෙන්නන එක. 🌏

දරුවො උපදින්නෙම සොභාදහමෙ කොටසක් හැටියට. පස්සෙ කලෙක සමාජයෙන්, රටේ අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් කරකවල අත ඇරියෙ නැත්නම් ඒ උපතින් ලැබෙන ආදරය, කුතුහලය නැති වෙන්න හේතුවක් නෑ කියල මට නම් හිතෙන්නෙ.

ඒ වගේම ලංකාවෙ දරුවොන්ට ඕන එයාලගෙ අදහස් ලෝකෙට කියන්න තැනක්: බය නැතුව තමන්ගෙ මතය ලෝකෙට කියන්න තැනක්. ඉතින් එයාලට හොඳ තීරණ ගන්න, නායකත්වය ගන්න, ලෝකය වෙනස් කරන්න හැකියාවක් තියෙන වට පිටාවක් හැදෙන්න ඕන.

අන්න ඒ නිසා තමයි, අපි Schoolyard Scientists Children‘s Network එක පටන් ගත්තෙ. ඒකට නායකත්වය දෙන්නෙ අපේ Schoolyard Scientists වැඩසටහනේ ඉන්න දරුවො. අවුරුදු 8ත් 16ත් අතර ඕනම දරුවෙක්ට එකතු වෙන්න පුළුවන්. භාෂාව ගැටළුවක් නෑ. දෙමළ සිංහල ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා තුනම කතා කරන දරුවො අපිත් එක්ක ඉන්නව.

අපි ඉන්නව එයාලගෙ පිටිපස්සෙන්, එයාල තීරණයක් ගත්තම ඒක ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න උදව් කරන්න.

සම්බන්ධ වෙන්නෙ මෙතනින්: https://bit.ly/sscnetwork

මේක launch කරන්න පෙරේද අපේ Schoolyard Scientists ල online කරපු වැඩසටහන මරු. 😍 ඒකෙ කතා කරේ, ඒ වැඩසටහන මෙහෙයුවෙ තනිකරම අපේ දරුවො. ඒකට සහභාගී වුණ දරුවො ඊට දෙවැනි නෑ.

ඒක බලන් හිටපු මගේ සහ අපේ team එකේ අයගෙ ඉහේ මලක් පිපිල හිටියෙ 😁

ඉතින් ඔයාල විශ්වාස කරනව නම් මේ රට හැදෙන්න ඕන කියල, දෙමව්පියො, භාරකරුවො, ගුරුවරු එක්ක මේ form එක බෙදාගන්න. ❤️

ඔයාගෙ දරුවවත් ජාලයට සම්බන්ධ කරන්න: https://bit.ly/sscnetwork

04/06/2025

Thank you very much all the children who joined the session and all the children who organized this ❤️

Today, we launched our Schoolyard Scientists Children Network: A children led network to conserve biodiversity 😍😍😍

Join the network: https://bit.ly/sscnetwork ❤️

27/05/2025

🌍 Plastic Free Futures: Children’s Voices, Real Change 🌱

Hey there! 👋
Join us for a meaningful evening to talk about how we, the children, can protect our Earth from plastic pollution! 💚

📚 Online Workshop by Schoolyard Scientists
🗓 Date: June 4, 2025
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
👧🏽🧒🏾 For children aged 11 to 16

Let’s raise our voices and create real change together! 🙌
👉 Register here: https://bit.ly/plasticfree2025 (link in bio)

Feel free to share this with other young changemakers too! 💥

16/05/2025

Today, our Schoolyard Scientists at Homagama Mahinda Rajapakse College hosted “Nature’s Touch: Journey to the Schoolyard Wild.” 💚

The more we run these programs, the more we see just how deeply children light up when given the chance to truly connect with nature.

At the end of the program several children asked us “When are you coming back”. That question hit us hard.

It made us realize: we need to create more ways for them to stay connected. So yes, we’re dreaming up a Schoolyard Scientists Children’s Club; something lasting, something led by them and supported by us, something just for them (DM if you wanna join or support)

We believe that every child deserve to hear our story, learn that nature is not so far away and it's just one step away if they care to look.

Stay Tuned! 💚💚

Thank you National Geographic Society for all the support.

01/05/2025

🌍✨ We’re thrilled to share that Schoolyard Scientists has been featured in the Field Notes Spotlight of National Geographic Society’s Explorer Connect – April 2025 Edition!

From schoolyards to sacred forests, from nature journaling to citizen science, we’ve been building empathy, curiosity, and conservation leadership with children and educators across Sri Lanka. 💚📚🦋

Huge thanks to National Geographic Society for spotlighting our journey. This is just the beginning. 🌱

📸: Our team at Sinharaja Forest Reserve, holding the National Geographic flag with pride.

22/04/2025

On this Earth Day, Eshadi Mendis‘s message: Take time to appreciate nature. 💚

We understand that there’s a crisis, but do we feel it? Ask yourself how much do you feel connected to planet Earth?

National Geographic Society Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)