Teacher wakes up, smells the sustainable coffee in Costa Rica with Earthwatch
From the moment he was selected as an Earthwatch Educator Fellow at the end of April, Denville, NJ, middle-school social studies teacher was determined to share his experiences as much as he could with his students and with others interested in environmental field research and conservation.
With frequent blog posts of his own, videos playing on You Tube, cross-posts to Earthwatch’s Facebook page, a Twitter feed, photo streams on both Flickr and Picasa , and repeat coverage by the local paper, it’s safe to say he met that goal—and serves as a model for how Earthwatch’s Educator Fellowship programs reach so many more people than the individual teachers who go on our expeditions.
With fellowship support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Matthew joined 10 other volunteers, including 7 other Educator Fellows and 3 US Forest Service Fellows, on our Costa Rican Coffee from Community to Cup expedition. For eight days, Matthew and his teammates worked with Earthwatch Scientists Sebastián Castro Tanzi and Natalia Ureña Retana to help the farmers of the coffee growers’ cooperative Coope Tarrazú study and refine more environmentally sustainable methods for growing, harvesting, and producing the bean at the heart of the world’s most popular beverage.
Matthew’s multimedia efforts tell the story of his expedition much better than we can here, so take a look. And, if you’re an educator interested in applying for an Earthwatch fellowship, or know someone who might be, visit or pass along this link: http://www.earthwatch.org/aboutus/education/edopp/.
Maybe, next summer, you can be spreading the word about Earthwatch online!