New Earthwatch Expeditions for 2012
Earthwatch is delighted to tell you about 10 brand new research expeditions - from helping to protect the giant panda to discovering prehistoric people!
Visit our expedition pages, complete our contact form, or call us today on +44 (0)1865 318 831 to speak to one of our friendly staff.
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Oxfordshire, England, UK |
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September |
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WHY: |
To investigate tree growth in light of predicted climate change. |
Long-standing trials in south Oxfordshire woodlands are investigating ash tree growth and survival. You can join these studies to help forest managers grow trees successfully in light of predicted climate change.
Your results will help researchers make recommendations for forest managers, by determining the most appropriate seed sources for planting in the UK, and establishing how to grow the species successfully under different climate change scenarios.
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Texas, North America |
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June-August |
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To map fossil specimens and learn about their evolutionary history. |
During the Cretaceous Period, the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas was situated along a subtropical coastline. Excavations within the region's Arlington Archosaur Site (AAS) have recovered dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, rays, lungfish and plants from Cretaceous rock, approximately 95-100 million years in age. The fossils represent a mixture of primitive and advanced animals, and palaeontologists aim to understand what factors may have led to this unusual, transitional situation.
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Valles Caldera, New Mexico, N. America |
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June-September |
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To improve our understanding of the culture and natural resource management of prehistoric man. |
In the Valles Caldera of New Mexico, you can investigate how communities have exploited volcanic obsidian rock resources at primitive quarries – now being excavated for the first time. You'll help Dr. Anastasia Steffen better understand how humans have adapted to and transformed this landscape over 10,000 years, and add to knowledge of both historical ecology and cultural history, using this understanding to better preserve the cultural heritage of this landscape.
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Devon, England, UK |
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July-August |
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To improve our understanding of life in the Romano-British world. |
Be among the first in two millennia to see new evidence of Rome’s presence as you excavate this promising site. The Celts called the area Dumnonia, and you’ll help discover how the Romans interacted with the Dumnonian people and what life was like in ancient Britain’s southwest.
The discovery of this Romano-British settlement is of tremendous importance. The settlement is the largest discovered in the county to date and detected structures hint at native roundhouses, enclosures, a Roman road and other structures.
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Chiang Rai, Thailand, SE. Asia |
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May-November |
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To improve our understanding of elephant behaviour and intelligence. |
How do elephants remember the location of family members, food and water sources? How do they interact with each other, and people, in and out of their natural environments? With Dr. Joshua Plotnik and his research team, you'll work to understand elephant behaviour and intelligence. You'll conduct non-invasive cognition research on elephants cared for in captivity in Chiang Saen, in the Chiang Rai province, and help gain a deeper understanding of elephant behaviour. Findings will inform wild elephant management, and the development of human/elephant conflict mitigation strategies that will put elephant needs on a par with those of local communities in Thailand.
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Gulf of Mexico, N. America |
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February-March |
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To help assess the damage caused by oil spills whilst protecting an iconic seabird. |
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of April 20, 2010, was the largest the US had ever experienced, with over 205 million gallons of crude oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has had an effect on a number of species – and with your help we will investigate any impacts on the Common Loon (Gavia immer), a seabird which commonly breeds in Canada and parts of the northern US. The US Midwest and Canadian breeding population of loons spend up to six months of the year in the Gulf of Mexico, and exposure to the oil spill can have physical effects on the seabirds such as immune system suppression, hormonal imbalance, and red blood cell damage – all of which can put the species survival at risk.
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French Alps, Europe |
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May-July |
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To help scientists understand the effect of climate change on local mammal populations. |
Predicting how ecosystems will respond to changes in the environment presents a major challenge to biologists. Because our planet's climate is an important factor on the breeding success and survival of wild animals, climate change could have powerful consequences on the survival - or the extinction - of species.
Monitoring alpine marmots (Marmota marmota) as a model species, you'll join investigations led by Dr. Aurélie Cohas into how mammal populations in the French Alps – a region strongly affected by changes in the climate - will evolve under continuing environmental change. You'll help catch and release marmots, and carry out behavioural observations.
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Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China |
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May-October |
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WHY: |
The rare giant panda is threatened by isolated populations and fragmented habitat.
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The bamboo-chewing giant panda is one of the most iconic endangered animals in the world. In the Sichuan province of China, you’ll work up close with pandas cared for in captivity, and help them adapt to life in the wild, so that they may breed, and live longer and healthier lives.
The long-term aim of this project is to create healthy, self-sustaining wild panda populations through the release of captive giant pandas.
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Hamata, Egypt, Southern Red Sea |
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June-July |
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A lack of data is hampering efforts to protect dolphins and whales in the Red Sea. |
Be among the first to use boat-based visual, acoustic, and other observational methods to help marine mammals in some of the Egyptian Red Sea's most pristine areas.
The Red Sea basin may be one of the least ecologically disturbed seas compared to other enclosed water bodies. However the growth of marine pollution, as well as the degradation of coastal habitats from urban, touristic and industrial development, carries threats for this marine environment and its resident cetaceans. Species include the spinner dolphin, pantropical spotted dolphin, and Bryde's whale. Cetacean ecology is not well known in this area, so it’s currently difficult to determine a threatened status for each of the species populations. More scientific information is needed to develop targeted conservation policies and strategies for these charismatic creatures.
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California, USA |
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June-July |
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To examine how human impacts are affecting marine mammal populations. |
Share the famed waters off Southern California with a diversity of whales and dolphins. Search for, spot, photograph, and identify these magnificent mammals from on deck and on shore, gathering data essential for their safety along the North American coast.
We hope these exciting new expeditions have inspired you! Please visit our expedition pages or use the form below to let us know which project you are interested in.
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