Earthwatch, Worldwide
Posted by Jackie Hewett on Sun 22nd April 2007 at 10:26 PM, Filed in Eco Friendly
Fancy doing something very different, educational, worthwhile and even ‘putting something back’ into the planet on your holidays?
I came across the terrific ‘Earthwatch Institute’ a number of years ago and am glad to see they still seem to be going strong after start up some 30 years ago. They are an international environmental charity who organise diverse research projects that bring together scientists, partners and volunteers in efforts to conserve the diversity of life on Earth.
They offer opportunities to study at close hand all manner of animals, plant life, archaeology, architecture and anthropology. As a volunteer you have to pay your way, but for most of the expeditions you don’t have to have any special skills, just a willingness to ‘muck in’. It is fair to say that on most expeditions you will have some pretty unique and fulfilling experiences.
If you are a UK secondary school teacher in subjects such as biology, geography or environmental science you may be lucky enough to bag one of the limited funded places. The idea being that the teachers will bring their first hand experiences back to the classroom to help inspire and educate their pupils.
For me some of the most interesting of the current / forthcoming expeditions are:
• Measuring the shrinkage of the largest Alaskan glacier between June and August 2007
• Studying the architecture and history of a traditional Chinese village before the villagers get re-located in July 2007
• Investigating the impact of human disturbance on Costa Rica’s monkey’s between April and November 2007
• Studying the reasons behind environmental degradation and cultural disintegration of Easter Island cultures between September and October 2007
• Various Lemur projects in Madagascar
• Studying Manatees and Dolphins in efforts to try to protect their environment in Belize in June and August 2007
• Testing ways to regenerate rainforests in Puerto Rico between May and December 2007-04-19 Swimming with Whale Sharks in Australia to learn how to save their dwindling population from April to June
Earthwatch also run a series of lectures and debates if you want to learn more without committing to an expedition. They also organise expeditions specifically aimed at teens and family groups.
Checkout their own site:
Earthwatch Link
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