Earthwatch Institute
Contact
Debbie WintonMayfield House
256 Banbury Road
Oxford
0X2 7DE
Email: dwinton@earthwatch.org.uk
Earthwatch is an international environmental charity that was founded in 1971 to support long-term scientific field research and environmental education around the world. To achieve this, Earthwatch works with leading scientists and local communities to find solutions to pressing environmental problems.
Every year Earthwatch makes grants of over £ 2.5 million in support of around 100 research projects. We do this by recruiting volunteers from the general public and partner organisations to join our scientists as research assistants and share the costs of the project. This model provides essential funding for long-term research and a workforce of committed volunteers.
The scientific research projects supported by Earthwatch fall into four categories:
- Sustainable Resource Management
- Climate Change
- Oceans
- Sustainable Cultures
These priority areas have been informed by global agendas and aim to influence conservation decisions. Our in-house research staff collaborate closely with field scientists to develop and implement Earthwatch projects internationally. To maximise our impact, Earthwatch develops strategic partnerships so that scientific results can be fed into larger decision-making bodies at local, regional and international level.
Coral reef research and the Oceans programme
There are two main initiatives within the Earthwatch ocean programme:
- To ensure the sustainability of coastal ecosystems by understanding and mitigating the effects of environmental change on vital ecosystem functions
- To maintain viable populations of key IUCN Red Listed species at critical locations and along migration routes
Earthwatch has supported coral reef projects in Thailand, Belize, Jamaica, Micronesia, the Bahamas and the Seychelles, and is hoping to move into other locations in the next few years.
Earthwatch is always looking for volunteers to dive, snorkel and survey beaches alongside leading scientists in the field. This is a unique opportunity to help protect some of the most diverse and threatened reefs in the world.
Earthwatch and IYOR
In recognition of International Year of the Reef, Earthwatch has created a Coral Reef Research poster, attended the flagship event of IYOR, the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a focused our e-Newsletter (Earthwatcher) on coral reef related issues. Our online newsroom regularly features press releases about our coral reef and marine research. For example:
- Will Corals Survive Stormy Future?
- Advanced technology to further Coral Reef conservation
- Earthwatch scientists assert coral reef decline is symptom of climate change
Earthwatch scientist, Professor James Crabbe, who has been a lead scientist on Earthwatch projects Jamaica's Coral Reefs and Coral Reefs of Belize, is playing a huge part in promoting IYOR in the UK through his lecture series on Climate Change and Coral Reefs.
Upcoming events include:
- Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) workshop - IMarEST HQ, London, October 2008 (date to be confirmed). James Crabbe will be presenting alongside one of the research staff at Earthwatch.
- Effects of Climate Change on Plants: Implications for Agriculture - Rothamsted Research, Hertfordshire, 12th-13th November 2008. James Crabbe will be talking about "Climate change, algae and tropical marine agriculture".
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