Earthwatch Institute has engaged the public in forward-looking field science for 30 years, and the organization is now redoubling efforts to apply its innovative model toward tangible conservation outcomes. As part of that strategic transformation, Earthwatch has invited three luminaries in diverse scientific disciplines to help guide its future as members of its Science Advisory Council (SAC).
The new members were announced at the SAC meeting during the Earthwatch Annual Conference, November 7, 2003, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are Dr. Wade Davis, Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic, Dr. Spencer Jourdain, executive director of The 1420 Foundation for Sustainable Development Education, and Dr. Christine Jost, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Population Health, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.
"We are very fortunate to have such distinguished scientists as science advisors," said Dr. Marie Studer, chief science officer of Earthwatch Institute (International). "Their guidance will help Earthwatch make strides toward promoting understanding in diverse communities and the action necessary for a sustainable environment."
Dr. Wade Davis, an anthropologist, botanical explorer, and best-selling author received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany from Harvard University. He spent more than three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among 15 indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations while making some 6,000 botanical collections.
Davis' books include Passage of Darkness and The Serpent and the Rainbow, based on his investigation of Haitian folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies, as well as Penan: Voice for the Borneo Rain Forest, Nomads of the Dawn, and Shadows in the Sun. He has published some fifty scientific articles on subjects ranging from Haitian vodoun and Amazonian myth and religion to the global biodiversity crisis, the traditional use of psychotropic drugs, and the ethnobotany of South American Indians.
Davis first encountered Earthwatch in 1982, as part of a team of scientists and volunteers working with anthropologists Christine and Ed Franquemont in Chinchero, Peru.
"We did an ethnobotanical survey which, once published, was probably the best monograph on the traditional use of plants in the southern Andes," said Davis. Volunteers collected over 800 plant specimens, took 7,000 photos, and taped 100 hours of music, stories, and household activities, and helped construct the Chinchero Center for Traditional Culture to highlight the cultural identity of the indigenous community.
"Earthwatch volunteers were doing real work and making a real contribution. I just remember that for many of them it was an experience of a lifetime. I think that we can't underestimate the importance of those kind of seminal experiences."
Dr. Christine Jost joined Earthwatch's SAC on the recommendation of her colleague at Tufts University, Dr. Bill Moomaw, professor of international environmental policy who has served on the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC). Jost is a dynamic, young researcher in the emerging field of "ecosystem health," bringing together basic and applied research on livestock, wildlife, and communities. As a pioneer in this field she is forging new ground in areas of participatory research methodologies and the human dimension of natural resource conservation in Arizona, Nepal, and Africa.
"What interests me about Earthwatch is their growing emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches to whole ecosystems," said Jost. Although trained as a veterinarian, Jost has research interests in community-based research, intervention, and natural resource management in the developing world and the impacts of environmental change on pastoral lifestyles. I think Earthwatch fills a unique niche in bringing the environmentally and socially aware public into scientific efforts to address our challenges."
Dr. Spencer Jourdain, who founded The 1420 Foundation for Sustainable Development Education in 1999, also brings exceptional talent to Earthwatch as a pioneer in education, communication, and technology in support of a sustainable environment. The 1420 Foundation is dedicated to transformative education that furthers the use of world knowledge for the achievement of a sustainable world in the 21st century. Through experiential learning projects in over 15 schools in the U.S. and overseas, the foundation instills a sense of "possibility" in learners to lead fulfilling lives and to "make a difference" in humankind's achievement of a harmonious, productive, and sustainable world.
Jourdain is also founder and president of Metastar Communications Inc., a small business consulting firm specializing in the intersection of communications platforms and networks and content, and particularly their impact on society. For instance, MetaStar has organized expert academic evaluation of the authenticity of cultural elements at Disney World's Animal Kingdom.
"The education of youth in schools, and people of all ages in communities, via the experiential learning approach is one of the most important factors in developing a world of humans both capable and desirous of living productive, fulfilling and equitable lives in a sustainable world," said Jourdain. "I see Earthwatch's future as, quite fortunately, strongly developing its current experiential, action-based projects, and increasing the focus and sophistication of these projects on local sustainable development impact."
Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization that supports scientific field research 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.
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.