Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists

During early 1990s, when Dehra Dun was still a picture-postcard town, known mainly for its salubrious climate, famous Dehraduni Basmati, a delicious unique, heritage aromatic rice, delicious litchis, guavas, confectioneries and public schools, some of the local newspapers started showing their concern about the emerging ecology and environmental issues of the city. A researchers’ Collective from the Chemistry discipline at the very well-known DAV college, was perturbed by these media reports covering the town’s problems which totally lacked scientific data and discourse. Even within the scientific fraternity, there were limited discussions or academic papers only on such serious environmental issues, but there was limited or no effort to reach out to the masses for awareness and solutions.

Doon Valley was well-known countrywide as a hub for school education, but the science or science teaching in almost all these schools (including the government/ public/ private schools) offered was that of fat textbooks, imperious, bespectacled teachers, complicated formulae, and a lot of learning and memorizing by rote. Indeed, students across the schools approached science subjects with some trepidation. “Fear” needed to be replaced with “Curiosity”!

So, the above two things became the primary objectives of the Collective. One- how to increase awareness on environmental problems and try to find solutions wherever possible or at least make efforts towards it, and second to replace the fear of science with a curiosity by bringing science into popular thinking and discussions in order to close the gap between science and people! And thereby, develop a scientific temper among the children and an appreciation of science among the adults.

During those days, the media was repeatedly reporting the town’s poor water quality, but unfortunately, scientific data were almost missing. So, the collective, with the DAV College science laboratory at its disposal, decided to conduct surveys and studies to gather authentic or on-ground data involving the community, collect and test water for analysis and verification, and share the findings publicly.

Having done its first formal investigation, the collective felt the need for a formal platform wherefrom they could not only increase environmental awareness but also popularize the science and formally registered SPECS (Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists) on 1994.

Today, while science and science-based investigations and activities remain the undercurrent of all our works, we continue to root all the scientific inquiry and innovations for the welfare and sustainable livelihoods of the community.

Science communication

SPECS started Science Communication for education and popularization in the year 1994 to make people especially children understand the facts easily by making it simple, not in the form of a complicated formula or a definition. It was started as a campaign, which has now become one of the most popular programs of the organization.

Awareness was created about the myths miracles and superstitions by uncovering the truth behind them. The prime objective of this program was to bring the interest of children back to science by making science education entertaining. By doing so, SPECS aims to demystify scientific principles and concepts for learners, thereby contributing to the development of a more scientifically literate and aware young generation and society as a whole.

The foundation of this program is the development of low-cost teaching aids and science communication tools designed to clarify scientific principles in a significant and amusing manner. These include innovative teaching aids, science communication toys, and exploration kits meticulously crafted to simplify complex scientific concepts. These aids are ingeniously designed to transform conventional science education into a hands-on, interactive, and joyful learning experience.

For SPECS's Science Communication must go beyond classroom settings, reaching out to the broader community especially school and college students. Through workshops, outreach and awareness programs, and engaging events like fairs, SPECS aims to bridge the gap between science and the general public. For these activities and events individuals of all ages are encouraged to participate to discover the wonders of science in an entertaining and enlightening manner.

Science Behind Miracles- Exposing Miracles and Charades lays bare open the secrets some of the so-called magic tricks or miracles. Many of them, such as eating fire, producing holy ash from thin air, etc. are used by mendicants and holy men to play on people’s superstitions and psychology to impress or/and cheat them. The message given is, that these miracles are based on simple scientific principles, and people must not get cheated by believing that the person is a magician or have super-natural powers.