Living earth dallas12/30/2023 “Earthwatch,” he says, “is a little like Tom Sawyer getting 1,500 people to paint the fence.” A grandmother interested in pottery may be just as interested in ancient pottery.” Rosborough also believes that Earthwatch appeals to the American volunteer spirit. A dentist can have the opportunity to analyze 200-year-old teeth. “Architects, it turns out,” he says, “make damn good archaeologists. Rosborough believes that Earthwatch satisfies people’s interests in fields that may be separate from their chosen professions but that are interests nonetheless. A housewife may measure prehistoric rock paintings alongside a chemical engineer a sportscaster from Seattle can share his coral finds with a librarian from Tampa. There is no typical Earthwatcher, which is a large part of the program’s appeal. “Intergenerational grouping,” he says, “is much more stimulating and satisfying for everyone involved.” Amazingly, the age range of volunteers is evenly divided, which Rosborough considers a definite plus. He estimates that about 60 percent of Earthwatch volunteers are business and working people, 30 percent are people in education (such as teachers, students, researchers and museum workers) and 10 percent are retirees. “We’re interested in people who are doers and who like to see things get done,” says Rosborough. Anyone, that is, with reasonable physical stamina, an interest in a chosen project, a commitment to work and, most important, enthusiasm. Members receive the triannual Earthwatch catalog, which details the numerous expeditions and gives updates on Earthwatch-sponsored research and advance notices of projects.Įarthwatch welcomes anyone -from truck drivers to astrophysicists. Indeed – Earthwatch now boasts more than 8,000 members who pay $20 annually or $35 for a two-year membership, which makes them eligible for expeditions. “We’ve had an overwhelming response from the public,” Rosborough says. Through the money and, more significant, through the manpower it has supplied, Earthwatch has mobilized more field investigations than any other private group. To date, Earth-watch has given about $3.2 million to scientists, making it the third largest private investor in scientific expeditions. Like a man stepping into a canoe, I was more worried about going back and forth than forward.” With hundreds of new Earthwatchers taking to the field each year and dozens of alumni making second, third and fourth trips, Earthwatch has finally come into its own. “In 1973 I had big plans for Earthwatch,” Rosborough says, “but 1 was busy with questions of solvency and design. In its 11 years, Earthwatch has burgeoned beyond even Rosborough’s expectations. Rosborough worked with EEI for six months before he gave up a job in corporate development and finance to take on full time the newly named Earthwatch organization. Rosborough has been with Earth-watch since 1972, when it was a struggling organization called Educational Expeditions International (EEI). And often, Earthwatchers learn a good deal about themselves in the process.Īt the helm of Earthwatch is president Brian Rosborough, who matched some 1,800 volunteers this year with their desired projects in 30 countries and 18 states. Aside from the immediate education they receive, they gain the satisfaction of making tangible contributions to science. For this opportunity, Earthwatchers, as they’re informally called, pay between $450 and $2,000 (tax deductible), depending on the expedition, plus travel expenses. They get firsthand experience in the types of science and humanities disciplines in which they have always been interested – an opportunity ordinarily reserved for the pros. They range in age from 16 to 75, come from all walks of life and participate simply because they want to. While on an expedition, these apprentice scientists may scrape away at fossils in New Mexico, study forest ecology in Peru or catalog coral reef fish in Hawaii. Through Earthwatch, professional field projects that otherwise may be too expensive to launch are crewed by eager volunteers who pay their own way. They are just a few of the 80-odd expeditions sponsored this year by Earthwatch, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that sends amateur science buffs around the world to man scientific field investigations. The designated prices seem like typical vacation prices – Bermuda: $1,245 Greece: $1,350 Maine: $625.īut there’s nothing typical about these excursions, which are vacations only in the most liberal sense of the word. THE CATALOG reads like a travel brochure.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |