Tello Neckheim

​

​Tello Neckheim was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and still lives there! As a boy his wish was to study biology, but due to personal circumstances it was not possible. However, his interest in nature remained and birding became his hobby. In addition, he was interested in almost all plant and animal groups. As an amateur malacologist, he started by making an inventory of terrestrial and freshwater molluscs in Amsterdam. 

 

Tello then went on to study land snails in Belgium, France and Spain and published dozens of articles. Later, he also published on land snails of Canada and the Caribbean. Over the past decades, Tello has contributed to several books on malacology or nature and management and now has almost fifty publications to his name.

​

In recent years he has been visiting Saba several times a year to survey the land snails. Still living in Amsterdam and busy with projects to protect urban nature. Together with Sylvia van Leeuwen, they are working on an inventory report on the snails of Saba.
 

But he is also interested in the woodlice (Isopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda), and millipedes (Diplopoda), actually in all the small crawling creatures living in the leaf-litter layer. Are centipedes dangerous, what do woodlice eat, and how many legs does a millipede have? And what do these tiny creatures look like under a microscope? Critter Quest 2026 will explore all these questions.

​

Tello will be on Saba from February 1-12, 2026. We will be updating our calendar with activity dates and times as we continue to coordinate our event. Stay tuned!

​

​