Earthwatch Pioneers Collaboration with Cuban Scientists
An initiative to support the work of Cuban field scientists isolated for the past 40 years is a significant contribution to warming relations between the people of Cuba and the U.S.
Maynard, MA A delegation of Earthwatch Institute representatives recently visited Cuba to meet with Cuban scientists, graduate students, and members of government in an innovative effort to kindle scientific collaboration. The goal of the delegation was to engage in strategic development of Earthwatch programs in Cuba, bringing international volunteers to the Caribbean island nation to assist Cuban field scientists.
Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit scientific research organization with headquarters in Maynard, Massachussetts. By establishing active partnerships between field scientists, the general public, educators, and businesses, Earthwatch promotes sustainable conservation of natural and cultural resources. Although Earthwatch Institute supports more than 130 projects in 48 countries, involving some 4,000 people from all walks of life in scientific research, the Cuban initiative represents an important new venue for their unique model.
"While Earthwatch Institute funds scientific field research, we go beyond that to build people-to-people bridges," said Marie Studer, Director of the Center for Field Research, the program development affiliate of Earthwatch. "I think this latter aspect is very appealing to Cuba, because it will allow people from the U.S. and other places to come, meet, and work with Cubans. And in Cuba our field grants will go a long way, as they are desperately lacking for money."
The Earthwatch delegation, which visited Cuba in June, included members of the Board of Directors, the Science Advisory Committee, and staff. They met with representatives and scientists from the Cuban National Aquarium, the National Botanical Garden, Cienfuegos Botanical Gardens, and Zapata Peninsula, an important wildlife refuge featuring the rare Cuban crocodile. The delegation also met with the historian of the City of Havana for a walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring hundreds of stately buildings of historic importance.
Earthwatch's bold initiative is part of a larger warming trend in the nearly 40-year U.S. trade and travel embargo against Cuba, originally instituted after Fidel Castro's revolution and the strained Cold War relations that followed. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a growing number of American tourists have found their way to Cuba, often through Mexico or Canada to avoid U.S. regulations. An estimated 165,000 Americans visited Cuba last year, 10 percent of all tourists to the country. Other tourists include Canadians and Europeans, whose trade and travel in Cuba have never been affected by the embargo.
Meanwhile U.S. humanitarian organizations, academic delegations, and professionals like doctors, farmers, and athletes, have been increasingly able to obtain licenses required by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, to travel to Cuba. Earthwatch Institute received its license to operate volunteer programs in Cuba this year, allowing volunteers from all around the world, including the U.S., to participate on Cuban research projects.
Although the embargo never officially restricted scientific interchange, Earthwatch Institute contends that increased communication between U.S. and Cuban scientists could help heal the wounds of 40 years of isolation by forging collaborations over common research interests. U.S. and Cuba, separated by only 150 kilometers, share many of the same weather patterns, migratory birds, marine animals, and elements of cultural history. Scientific collaborations have already been fostered between Cuban and American scientists regarding sharks, spiders, fossil sloths dating back 12 million years, and ivory-billed woodpeckers, presumed extinct until recently. Earthwatch plans to build on this growing trend with strategic partnerships with Cuban
colleagues.
"Cuba is a geographic extension of Florida, but has long remained a biological mystery to most
scientists," said Dr. Margaret Lowman, Executive Director of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Lowman, a member of Earthwatch's Science Advisory Committee, adds that Selby scientists look forward to cooperating with Earthwatch projects regarding botanical surveys, forest canopy biology, and epiphytic plants in Cuba. "The opportunities forged
by Earthwatch to develop collaborative field biological projects in Cuba represent an important milestone for conservation, in terms of understanding global biodiversity."
Earthwatch Institute's new Cuba program comes at a critical time in Cuba's history, as rapid political and economic changes expected in the next few years collide with unique and valuable ecosystems protected by decades of relative anonymity and lack of development. Earthwatch considers this a unique but narrow opportunity for international science and conservation institutions to work together to inventory, monitor, and ultimately, protect Cuba's natural and cultural treasures.
Although a diversity of projects are intended for the future, Earthwatch plans to introduce the first two Cuban projects next summer. They are currently working on developing a marine project, studying the ecology of coral reefs virtually unknown to U.S. researchers, in collaboration with scientists at the Cuban National Aquarium. The second project in development is a cultural history investigation involving the spectacular architecture of Old Havana, where some of the buildings date back to the 16th and 17th century.
In the mean time, Earthwatch Institute will be inviting four Cuban scientists to the U.S. in November to participate in their annual conference, a forum for Earthwatch scientists, volunteers, and the public to interact and learn from each other. Cuban scientists invited will include Jorge Chamero, Director if International Relations with the Ministry of Science, Environment, and Technology, Dr. Miguel Vales, Director of the Center for Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Systematics, and two scientists directly related to the projects being developed.
Earthwatch's initiative is not only an important addition to its international offerings of volunteer-based scientific research, it is a significant contribution to the warming relations between the people of Cuba and the U.S. As the world's oldest, largest, and most respected organization directly involving the public in scientific field research, Earthwatch is ideally equipped for this leadership role.
"Earthwatch has a long history of facilitating scientific exchanges with countries that have been isolated from the world scientific community," said Chet Atkins, former U.S. congressman and Executive Director of ADS Ventures. "Earthwatch's ability to promote dialogue between scientists of different nationalities without government interference make it a perfect vessel for this type of exchange." As a member of Earthwatch Institute's Board of Directors, Atkins has been instrumental in developing the program in Cuba, where his family has a history of involvement stretching back to the 19th century. "It has been my pleasure to see Cuba become a part of Earthwatch's larger community."
Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization which supports scientific field research worldwide by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. The Institute's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.