Earthwatch
Encyclopedia
Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization that was founded in 1971 near Boston (USA) to promote action and understanding necessary to sustain the Natural environment. The Earthwatch supports scientific field research
and education by offering volunteers
the opportunity to join research teams around the world to collect field data in the areas such as wildlife conservation
, rainforest
ecology, marine science and archaeology
.
By paying to spend time (ranging from a few days to several weeks) working with scientists on their projects, people support the work financially and with their manpower to gain first hand experience of conservation issues.
Earthwatch Institute aims to create a systematic change in how the public views science and its role in environmental sustainability, working under the premise that conservation decisions should be based upon solid data from the field.
Since 1971 the worldwide organisation has recruited over 81,000 volunteers in support of 2,800 field research projects in 118 countries. These volunteers have contributed over 10 million hours to essential field work. It supports over 140 research projects in 50 countries by providing funds and paying volunteers. It offers members of the public opportunities to work as volunteers alongside leading field scientists and researchers - no special skills are required (except scuba certification for diving projects).
Field research
Field research is the collection of raw data in natural settings. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings...
and education by offering volunteers
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
the opportunity to join research teams around the world to collect field data in the areas such as wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation is the preservation, protection, or restoration of wildlife and their environment, especially in relation to endangered and vulnerable species. All living non-domesticated animals, even if bred, hatched or born in captivity, are considered wild animals. Wildlife represents all...
, rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
ecology, marine science and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
By paying to spend time (ranging from a few days to several weeks) working with scientists on their projects, people support the work financially and with their manpower to gain first hand experience of conservation issues.
Earthwatch Institute aims to create a systematic change in how the public views science and its role in environmental sustainability, working under the premise that conservation decisions should be based upon solid data from the field.
Organization and History
Earthwatch headquarters are in Boston (Massachusetts), as well as offices in Oxford (England), Melbourne (Australia) and Tokyo (Japan).Since 1971 the worldwide organisation has recruited over 81,000 volunteers in support of 2,800 field research projects in 118 countries. These volunteers have contributed over 10 million hours to essential field work. It supports over 140 research projects in 50 countries by providing funds and paying volunteers. It offers members of the public opportunities to work as volunteers alongside leading field scientists and researchers - no special skills are required (except scuba certification for diving projects).
See also
- Conservation movementConservation movementThe conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- EnvironmentalismEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
- Environmental protectionEnvironmental protectionEnvironmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
- Natural environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- Natural capitalNatural capitalNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
- Natural resourceNatural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
- Renewable resourceRenewable resourceA renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- Volunteer Vacation
- WildMetroWildmetroWildMetro is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting nature and people in metropolitan regions...cities, suburbs and adjacent rural areas. Currently working in the New York city region, WildMetro expects to build on current global contacts and eventually expand to metropolitan regions...