I'm Indra. I write about coral reefs, sharks, and learning to be a marine biologist.
I'm Indra. I've decided I want to be a marine biologist. I'm aiming for UTAS in February 2028. Until then, I'm learning out loud.
This site is where I read papers I can barely understand, write about what I notice, and (sometimes) email scientists to ask questions. Most of the emails go nowhere. A few don't. Those ones have changed my year.
Amma and Appa built this for me so I'd have somewhere honest to write. The writing is the point. Everything else is scaffolding.
about indra.
I'm Indra. I live with my parents and a small brown dog named Pepper.
I want to be a marine biologist. Specifically, I want to study coral reefs and sharks — the two animals I have been drawing in my school notebooks for as long as I can remember. I'm aiming to start at UTAS in February 2028.
This site is the long road there. I read papers, write about what I notice, and email researchers I admire. Most of the emails go unanswered. The ones that don't have changed everything.
The site was built by my parents — Amma and Appa. They wanted me to have somewhere honest to write that wasn't social media. The published pieces here are the ones that survived a few drafts.
On the first time I emailed a real coral scientist
14 · apr · 2026 · field notes
Chapter 1 — Foundations & curiosity
jun – aug 2026
I sent it. Then I waited. Then I learned the most important lesson of my year so far.
field notecold emailscoral reefswrite to me.
If you're a researcher, a teacher, or someone else doing this — please do. Messages come to my parents' inbox first. They'll forward anything worth reading.