Harish Bhat (28 august 1971 – 3 Nov 2017), the author of the popular book ‘the Pakshi Prapancha (the world of birds)’, passed away on 3rd Nov 2017 afternoon while delivering a lecture at Alva’s High school, Moodbidri.

Harish was associated with CES since 1995 and was actively involved in many field experiments related to ecology and biodiversity. Apart from field work, he was deeply engaged in the centre’s outreach programme including biennial lake symposium, environment education programmes in schools and colleges and was successful in creating considerable passion in youth on birds and butterflies and their interaction with nature.

His work had received many accolades including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award, Govt. of Karnataka, for science literature and ‘Best Science Communicator’ award by Mysore Science Foundation. He served as a Honorary Wildlife Warden, Bangalore, a Member of Biodiversity Management Committee (BBMP), a member in the CBSE syllabus committee, Directorate for text books, Govt. of Karnataka, Western Ghats Task force, Government of Karnataka and more.

Harish Bhat had deep ecological knowledge, a friendly nature, an ability to connect with students speaking Kannada -- qualities that are so rare among scientists of current generation.These qualities made him extremely popular among school students and among public for disseminating innovative ideas and his talks on topics such as bio-mimicry, nature inspired design, and bioengineering aspects are quite popular.Its no wonder that almost every news outlet in Karnataka covered his untimely demise.

His vast experience in environmental education and reaching out to children is unmatched evident from the successful co-ordination of the annual popular nature science programmes including Indian Science & Engineering Fair (INSEF), Nature Science Internship Programme (NSIP), etc. He has delivered more than 1500 lectures apart from training students and teachers from hundreds of schools, covering nook and corner of Karnataka through Karnataka State in the School Biodiversity Register Programme.

Harish Bhat is survived by his wife and a 6 year old daughter. CES community deeply mourns the untimely death of Harish which has created void with the loss of a dedicated nature teacher. His mobile is still busy with the numerous SMS and calls from school students, which he would have responded within few seconds.