A day in the life of...Nat Spring, Earthwatch Europe's Senior Research Director

The main role of the research team is to support Earthwatch's international programme of 100 field research projects. We liaise with scientists and NGO partners to recruit new projects, evaluate the scientific quality of the proposed studies, and review the fit to our four Research Areas - Climate Change, Sustainable Resource Management, Oceans and Sustainable Cultures.

Research proposals are subject to a rigorous process of review before an Earthwatch grant is awarded, including a important peer review by our network of scientists which helps us to ensure that the research we support is producing maximum conservation benefit. We evaluate all of our projects on an ongoing basis and work to ensure that the results from the research are disseminated to key audiences such as funders, governments, conservation managers, community members and the general public worldwide.

Part of the development of a new Earthwatch project involves visits to the research site, where we meet the scientists and partner organisation to discuss the details of the research and how the results will be used. We assess the tasks which the Earthwatch volunteers will be undertaking and conduct a risk assessment on behalf of our field management team. In the last couple of years I have focussed on collaborating with scientists leading projects in Ghana and the Seychelles and have made several visits to both countries.

Back in the office, myself and the rest of the research team provide a scientific resource for Earthwatch itself, working closely with all other departments - for example, with our fundraising and communications teams. In the coming year I will be focussing on developing our portfolio of marine projects - in particular liaising with scientists to identify opportunities to better communicate the findings of the research and build the capacity of the research teams.

Outside work I enjoy physical challenges of all kinds. In July this year I went on a climbing expedition to a remote area of East Greenland with two friends. The area had only been visited by one expedition in the past and we made ascents of four previously unclimbed peaks. Being inside the Arctic Circle we enjoyed 24-hour sunlight, although our enjoyment was tempered at the sight of polar bear prints on our first night. During the month-long expedition, we were based 100 miles from the nearest settlement, and explored a vast area in search of potential climbing objectives, many of which we documented for future expeditions. We had to negotiate many crevasses, tottering piles of moraine and rushing glacial streams on our routes to the peaks. In addition to climbing and exploring the area we collected plants, contributing to a botanical inventory of East Greenland which was initiated in the 1960s.

My previous expeditions include rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Barbados in 2004, and racing 550kms from Costa Rica's Atlantic to Pacific coasts by bike, kayak and on foot.

Nat, pictured right, on the Earthwatch expedition Coral and Coastal Ecology of the Seychelles. Photo credit: Nat Spring
Nat, pictured right, on the Earthwatch expedition Coral and Coastal Ecology of the Seychelles.

'In the last couple of years I have focussed on collaborating with scientists leading projects in Ghana and the Seychelles and have made several visits to both countries.'

Nat reaches the summit of a peak on his expedition to Greenland. Photo credit: Nat SpringNat reaches the summit of a peak on his expedition to Greenland.