CALORIE Experimentors
The Experimentor Programme encompasses Science Gallery Bengaluru's principles, ethos, and practices within mentorship initiatives for young adults. Experimentors join SGB for a period of 14 months, and go through rigorous training in interdisciplinary thinking and public engagement. Over their tenure, they contribute to the gallery's mission by creating engagement activities and public programmes, collating exhibition related research, facilitating learning programmes, and driving visitor experience on the gallery floor.
Experimentors also have the opportunity to work with SGB and the University of Glasgow, to obtain a Postgraduate Certification in Science Public Engagement.
This year, for our exhibition-season CALORIE, we have a diverse group of experimentors who are part of SGB full-time, as well as part-time. Come say hi!
Aashka Shah
Aashka studied Biology, Psychology and Environmental Studies at Ashoka University and has experience working in neuroethology and conservation of zebrafish and elephants respectively. Her behavioural work has led her to discover that a frolicking worm need not be exhibiting a mating dance. With a growing interest in neuroimmunology, she hopes to delve into interdisciplinary research on the psycho-physiological basis of health and behaviour.
She loves singing, playing tabla and anything and everything music especially percussion!
Ayati Dobhal
Ayati is a creative practitioner who has recently graduated from Azim Premji University with a Bachelor’s in History and an Interdisciplinary studies track in Art Education.
They have spent a lot of time volunteering with public engagement initiatives in public spaces like museums and libraries as a facilitator and almost two years as a English-Hindi translator with a digital archiving project.
They love to read anything and everything and are probably trying to read four books at once right now. They are enthusiastic about learning and are currently interested in themes of bioessentialism, carceral thinking and the History of Science among other things. They have a thriving art practice of fluid shapes, yummy colours, bits, bobbles and most recently a growing collection of bark, sticks and seed pods!
Beverly Pinto
Beverly has a background in psychology and is a former flight attendant. She has experience working as a mental health counsellor and as an English teacher.
She thrives on adventure, cultural exploration and connection. She is a keen practitioner of Pilates and advocates for the connection between mind, body, and soul. Beverly hopes to be a certified scuba diver and is working on become a surfer. She is passionate about travel, writing, creating music, theatre, and her beloved dog, Olive. She explores life through a blend of curiosity and compassion. Her spirit and love for learning shapes a life of movement, faith, meaning, and joy.
Kruthika Sanjay
Kruthika is an Anthropologist at heart as well as by training and holds an MSc in Socio-Cultural Psychology from the London School of Economics. She has a minor in Biology and likes to explore the human experience at the intersection of culture, cognition and biology. Recently, she has been looking to make a career shift towards Biological Anthropology. She is an eternal learner, always exploring something new, whether it is the basics of coding or a whole new language (currently working on French and Korean)!
She absolutely loves to read various kinds of fiction and occasionally non-fiction. She enjoys artistic pursuits like writing, drawing (mostly her tattoos), amateur piano-playing and very recently, embroidery. She is also very much a music and K-pop enthusiast! Her dogs are her pride and joy, and she will take any given opportunity to show off their photos (as well as those of SGB’s mascot, Bucky)!
Megha V
Megha has completed her masters in English and Cultural Studies. She seeks to pursue knowledge in the urban sciences to make life simpler in the urban sphere. She is fond of all the plants and animals in her neighbourhood, and treasures her local park. She is also passionate about local public transit, and hopes to help improve it.
She is also an amateur painter and enjoys various crafts. Her other other interests include literary fiction, poetry and cultural theories.
Nirupama Shankar Babu
Nirupama is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and storyteller bridging diverse worlds. With a BBA and diploma in Information Arts and Information Design from Srishti Manipal Institute, she brings analytical rigor and creative intuition to her work.
Her practice spirals outward from personal truths and community stories, reshaping them into multimedia pieces that invite connection.
She is currently wrestling with her awkward love affair with fish—adoring them both on her plate and in their habitat, while discovering what authenticity means to her. Driven by creating from experiences and experiencing life to create, Nirupama explores how creativity serves as personal compass and collective bridge.
Noyonika Palit
Noyonika’s journey into fine arts began at 11. Trained as a visual artist, she gradually discovered the power of curating experiences that extend beyond the canvas. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, specializing in Contemporary Art Practices from the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Her curatorial journey has taken shape through roles like Curatorial Fellow at the Kochi Students’ Biennale and Gallery Intern at Experimenter, Kolkata. The experiences have deepened her understanding of space, memory, and narrative.
Curious about human behavior, Noyonika often draws from social and behavioural sciences to enrich her work. Outside the gallery and studio, she’s a trained classical dancer, a mindfulness practitioner, and an animal lover who see stillness and rhythm as equally vital.She recently stepped into the world of DJing, where she explores sound as yet another form of storytelling.
For Noyonika, art is more than a practice, it’s a way of being: attentive, responsive, and always evolving.
S. Thejaswini
Thejaswini has a Masters in Zoology and has been grasshopping her way through an array of niches trying to figure out what she loves doing the most. She has been a communication trainer, an assistant professor, program manager, an academic counsellor, and a nature educator in the past; and in each of these roles, she has loved conversing with people. She particularly enjoys listening to stories, and experiences–an important reason why she says she joined the experimentor programme. When “not talking”, one will probably catch her reading, watching a movie/series, sketching, cooking or simply zoning out while watching the skies.
On her off days she will either be buried inside a blanket or ride 70kms to trek and try a regional specialty and share all those experiences as an IG story or blog. She will mostly be ricochetting between the extremes of doing nothing while overthinking or do everything while overthinking.
Sai Motupali Nair
Sai holds a BA in Culinary Arts and a Postgraduate Diploma in Liberal Studies at the Young India Fellowship. Having worked across professional kitchens, community food initiatives, and interdisciplinary research projects, her personal and professional pursuits are guided by a deep interest in the stories, systems, and communities that shape our realities. In her world, the kitchen isn’t just for cooking—it’s a space to ask questions, hold memory, and imagine gentler ways of being.
Lightly chaotic in the best way, Sai enjoys strolling through busy markets, reading multiple books at once, and cycling through a range of creative adventures. From tending to her sourdough starter to soaking up the sun on a quiet afternoon, Sai moves through life with slowness and intention.
Shreya Anu Shekar
Shreya is a transdisciplinary artist and dancer who explores the intersection of digital and traditional art forms—dabbling across mediums and collecting trinkets along the way. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Arts and Information Design Practices from Srishti Manipal Institute, where her love for storytelling and experimentation flourished.
Driven by curiosity and a constant urge to document the everyday, she’s always battling for storage space on her phone. Growing up by the coast has made her a lifelong beach lover, and she draws inspiration from nature, travel, and the animals she encounters along the way. Whether she’s geeking out over a binge-worthy show or taking photos of random auto stickers, she seeks meaning in the mess, the mundane, and the in-between.
Tejashree V
Tejashree is a researcher with hands-on lab experience in the fascinating fields of Chemistry and Nanoscience. She holds a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from St. Joseph’s University. She finds joy in teaching by bringing chemistry to life through creative, engaging methods that spark curiosity and foster meaningful connections. She is always open to engaging in thoughtful conversations or just bibble-babble.
She loves writing poetry, strolling through museums and finds calm and joy in unwinding through the exploration of vibrant Indian crafts, or just doodling her thoughts away. Whether in the lab or in life, she’s always experimenting-with molecules, ideas, art, and herself!
Vinaya Krishnan
Vinaya graduated with a masters in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Glasgow, and has a growing curiosity towards neurodegenerative disorders, DNA repair and ubiquitination. With a background in biological sciences through her degree, she is looking forward to practising interdisciplinary research, delving into different lenses of the human condition. Ordinarily she considers herself a ‘Jack of all trades’ and picks up any hobby that strikes her fancy. At the moment, you can find her working on learning golf, crocheting, or hiking (atleast trying to). She also considers herself beach person, despite having never learnt to swim and hopes to get her diving license someday.
Constantly striving to learn and grow, she is excited about her journey at SGB and in interacting with her colleagues, exhibiting artists, and the public.