Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SO WHAT IS EARTHWATCH?
“You don't have to know anything when you arrive, but you'll feel like a Rhodes
Scholar when you go home.”
—Earthwatch motto
Founded in 1971, Earthwatch has supported more than 1,300 field research projects
in 119 countries. These projects, run by respected members of the scientific commu-
nity, have addressed problems ranging from public health to declining biodiversity.
Earthwatch-supported work in the Peruvian rain forest canopy, for example, revised
estimates for the total number of insect species from 1.5 million upward to 6 mil-
lion. A decade-long botanical study in the highland forests of western Cameroon
uncovered 50 new endemic plant species.
Earthwatch teams work in some of the most interesting places on Earth, often-
times in areas inaccessible to tourists. Sites range from Inner Mongolia to the Outer
Hebrides, from Hudson Bay to Uruguay. Most of these intense, hands-on research
projects last 10 to 14 days, but there are also one-week, three-week, and weekend
projects.
Accommodations on Earthwatch projects range from condos to hammocks. On
one expedition to Mongolia, volunteers shared a communal brick bed in the home
of a Mongolian goatherd. There may be hot showers or only a bucket of cold wa-
ter. There may be private bathrooms or pit toilets. Food also runs the gamut from
cheese sandwiches and an apple to fare from a four-star Hungarian restaurant with
an extensive wine cellar.
Each project includes a detailed expedition briefing that explains logistics, as
well as a history of the expedition, its research mission, its goals, the background of
the researcher, reference maps, and a recommended reading list.
Volunteers on this stateside project will scan digital images, reformat slides, write de-
scriptions of books, gather biographic material about authors, and type texts on significant
plants. Your donation for the Medicinal Plants of Antiquity program is $849. Lunches and
several dinners are included on this five-day experience, but you'll be responsible for secur-
ing your own accommodations. In the expedition brief, you'll be given names and numbers
of several nearby options, including a B&B that charges prices starting at $15 a night.
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH
