About Earthwatch

More about Earthwatch Institute

Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization with over 35 years experience placing people like you on leading environmental and cultural research projects around the world.  Earthwatch offers you more than a chance to read about issues, places and discoveries.  With Earthwatch, you actually get involved.

The organization has grown to be one of the world’s largest private, non-governmental sponsors of scientific field research. Your membership, share of costs, and travel expenses are tax-deductible because Earthwatch Institute is a public charity under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code for its educational, charitable, and scientific activities (federal nonprofit ID #23-7168440)

Membership in Earthwatch Institute is the perfect way to stay informed of our activities and expeditions. Benefits include discounts and informative publications. To learn more about Earthwatch and to select an expedition for you to participate in, see www.earthwatch.org.  Sometimes volunteers speak of Earthwatch as “your chance to walk into the pages of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.”

To receive a free copy of expedition guide with over 130 exciting research expeditions that you can join, visit: http://www.earthwatch.org/location/guide.html  or call 1-800-776-0188, M-F 9:00 AM to 5:00PM EST.

A small team of Earthwatch Volunteers arranges 3 – 5 programs a year in the Chicago area.  These events give you an opportunity to discuss Earthwatch projects with the featured speaker and volunteers who have been on previous expeditions. A special rate for Earthwatch individual memberships of $25 (normally $35) will be offered at these programs. And bring your friends.

Earthwatch's mission is to build a sustainable world through an active partnership between scientist and citizen. Through public participation in field research, Earthwatch helps scientists gather data and communicate information that will empower people and governments to act wisely as global citizens. Earthwatch offers its members the opportunity to work side by side with distinguished field scientists in their work in seven focused areas of sponsored research: World Oceans; World Forests; Biodiversity; Cultural Diversity; Learning from the Past; Monitoring Global Change; and World Health. Projects are divided into roughly one to three-week-long teams to enable members of the public to participate, with successive teams over the research duration.  No previous training or experience is required.

Earthwatch Institute is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Oxford, England, Melbourne, Australia and Tokyo, Japan.  50,000 members and supporters are spread across the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia and 3,500 of our members volunteer their time and skills to work with research scientists each year on our field research projects.  Earthwatch now supports the largest marine mammal research program in the world and is the largest independent funder of archeological research.  Earthwatch has provided field research scholarships for more than 3,000 students and teachers as well as resource managers from developing countries.

Earthwatch supports important field research by creating partnerships between scientists, educators, and the general  public.  The Earthwatch approach is highly cost effective because people participate directly in research in a team effort.  Earthwatch has helped to accomplish many significant results and has generated a corps of educated citizens who have an in-depth knowledge and global perspective about issues affecting the planet.  Since 1972 this team effort has accomplished the following: