Earthwatch Institute is committed to helping "young" scientists start their research careers. By targeting doctoral candidates, recent post-doctoral researchers, and other early-career scientists, Earthwatch supports dynamic researchers with bright futures and a dedication to education. In the competitive field of securing research grants, younger scientists are often overlooked in favor of tenured researchers. Earthwatch is interested in fostering the fresh ideas and talent of these young scientists and supporting them for multiple research seasons. As always, we are primarily interested in researchers that involve local communities and host country nationals in their projects.
In FY07, 28% of Earthwatch Principal Investigators were early career scientists. Their research represents a wide variety of disciplines and regions, such as Dr. Luke Dollar's (Duke University) project Carnivores of Madagascar and Dr. Helen Waldemarin (Associacão Ecológica Ecomarapendi) doing research on river otters in the Pantanal.