Earthwatch Institute
Earthwatch Institute, founded in 1971 in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest environmental volunteer nonprofit organization globally. Its mission is to engage individuals around the world in scientific field research and education to foster understanding and action for sustainable environmental practices. The organization emerged as a response to decreasing government funding for scientific research, aiming to enhance public scientific literacy and encourage active involvement in environmental issues. Earthwatch collaborates with a diverse community that includes research scientists, educators, students, volunteers, and corporate partners, operating in several countries including Australia, Belize, Costa Rica, England, Japan, Kenya, and the United States.
The organization prioritizes research focused on sustainable resource management, climate change, and the health of oceans and cultures. It conducts impactful studies that inform conservation efforts, such as the successful community-based management of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, which has led to increased wildlife populations. Earthwatch's research also addresses the effects of climate change on species and habitats, exemplified by studies on coral reefs in Jamaica and Belize. Additionally, the organization explores the historical aspects of sustainability through research on ancient civilizations, aiding in the understanding of human-environment interactions and their relevance to contemporary issues.
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Subject Terms
Earthwatch Institute
- DATE: Established 1971
Earthwatch is an international nonprofit organization that advocates research and scientific literacy to help resolve environmental issues such as sustainable resource management. Earthwatch supports scientific research projects and assigns volunteers to those projects; builds networks to share expedition-based curriculums and lessons; collaborates with other conservation and environmental organizations; and solicits corporate partners and private individuals to help promote a sustainable environment.
Background
Founded in 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts, Earthwatch Institute began with four Smithsonian scientists and small teams of volunteers. Earthwatch was established as government funds for scientific research decreased. The organization sought a funding model that would bridge research with action to increase public scientific literacy and involvement.
Earthwatch Institute is the world’s largest environmental volunteer nonprofit organization. The mission of Earthwatch is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. The Earthwatch community includes research scientists, educators, students, global members, volunteers, collaborating organizations, and corporate partners.
Earthwatch Institute is a public charity under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The organization has headquarters in Australia, Belize, Costa Rica, England, Japan, Kenya, and the United States.
Impact on Resource Use
Earthwatch prioritizes and supports effective scientific research that focuses on sustainable resource management, change, oceans, and sustainable cultures. Such projects include data on species, habitats, and protected areas. Scientific results are published worldwide in scholarly journals and shared with partner organizations, government agencies, and policy makers.
Earthwatch research results have confirmed that sustainable resource management is crucial not only to social and economic development but also to understanding complexities. Such studies include the Amazon Riverboat Exploration, which found that since local communities have been actively involved in the management of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon there has been a decrease in hunting and an increase in populations of certain wildlife species.
Other Earthwatch research focuses on ways that various species are affected by climate change and may suggest ways to mitigate negative impacts, such as those caused by human activities. In 2006, James Crabbe received an award for his outstanding research on coral reefs in Jamaica and Belize. He uses a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to obtain digital images and measure growth of coral at depths that are difficult or impossible to reach by diving. His research results include findings that the rising Jamaican water temperature has caused a measurable decline in coral cover.
Earthwatch supports research on the stability and productivity of life in oceans and coastal regions. In 2007, Earthwatch completed the first baseline survey of species inhabiting the subtidal and intertidal zones of the Seychelles. The study had the support of the Mitsubishi Corporation. Research data, including photographic documentation, were shared with the Seychelles government, local communities, and conservation groups. With assistance from project scientists, teacher volunteers in the Seychelles and United Kingdom have developed curriculum resources for educational use.
An Earthwatch focus on both current and past sustainable cultures contributes to a better understanding of human interaction with the environment. Research on ancient civilizations, such as that which inhabited the Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, provides assessments on behavioral change, attitudes, and adaptation. Chris Stevenson has led the project for approximately two decades. Research findings include information linking climatic changes with changes in farming that may be helpful in analyzing modern environmental problems. In 2022, Earthwatch used nine years of wildlife monitoring data from Costa Rica to secure the designation of the Golfo Dulce as an Important Marine Mammals Area. This provided additional legal protections for much of the wildlife throughout the region.
Bibliography
"Earthwatch." Earthwatch,
"Earthwatch Institute." Weil, 2023, www.weil.com/weil-legal-innovators/2022-2023-nonprofit-partners/earthwatch-institute. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
"Marine Conservation in Costa Rica." Earthwatch, 2023, earthwatch.org/expeditions/conserving-marine-mammals-in-costa-rica. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.