Scientists and researchers are concerned about ecosystems worldwide and the impact human encroachment is having on fragile environments. Unfortunately, many of the studies conducted by these scientists require a great deal of assistance. While the cause may be noble, funding is often very limited, so these researchers are often in need of volunteers.
You don''t have to be a research scientist to help. You and your family can participate in international volunteer work that can turn a boring tourist trek into a great educational experience that helps keep our planet healthy.
International science projects are hard work. You might find that your volunteer work takes you into a tropical jungle where you''ll be squatting in a boat or a hunter''s blind, waiting for animals to appear. You may be out in the hot sun, swatting at mosquitoes, or hiking in the high altitudes, toting equipment and clipboards. But regardless of where you go, you''ll be rubbing elbows with scientists, and your vacation slide show is bound to be a lot more engaging than snapshots of fruity drinks with little paper parasols.
Good science relies on good information, and much of the work to be done by organizations like Earth Watch is about collecting the data to get the truth behind the headlines we''re reading in the news.
Picture yourself as a member of a scientific data collection team charged with collecting data on ivory poachers. You interview locals and monitor the elephant herds. You talk to local men who can''t feed their families after a crop failure, but they can earn enough money for a year''s food simply by harvesting a single pair of elephant tusks. Would you let your children die of starvation to save an elephant?
Such complex questions can''t be answered by a few excursions into the wild, but your data collection efforts will certainly contribute to the formulation of solutions that alleviate poverty, save animal species from extinction and preserve old-growth forests, wetlands and rivers for future generations.
The list of scientific projects worldwide reads like a travel agent''s dream: the dolphins of Brazil, the turtles of the Great Barrier Reef, the snow leopards of Central Asia, the frog habitats of Australia, the bogs of Belarus and the ecology of the Grenadines in the Caribbean.
Your job as a volunteer will be to join a group that monitors animal behavior, takes water samples for lab analysis, gathers plant samples or surveys birds, amphibians or insects. In return, you''ll learn why counting butterflies or photographing a rhinoceros is important in tracking migration patterns or finding out what animals need to survive and why human encroachment threatens their survival.