Friday, February 7, 1992 ~ North Shore News - 47

ENVIRONMENT
Travel and learn on an Earthwatch adventure

YOU’RE FLIPPING through travel brochures wistfully,
wishing you could do something really different this year.

Peggy
Trendel Whittaker

You’ve done Disneyland sith
the kids. You don’t want to waste
another three weeks of your life
asleep on a beach. A three-month
educational jaunt through Europe
and Asia would fit the bill nicely,
but somehow you don’t think
your boss would agree to the ex-
tended holiday, or the raise in
salary that it would necessitate.

World-weary vacationers and
travel novices alike will be glad to
hear about Earthwatch, a non-
profit organization based in the
United States that offers adven-
tures of the sort many of you
have long dreamed of.

Through Earthwatch, you can
work amongst the sloth bears of
Nepal, the elephants of South
Africa, or
Australia.

You can excavate a castle in
Wales, bison skeletons in
Nebraska, or relics from the ear-
th-based fertility cults of ancient
Pompeii.

You can even be instrumental in
saving part of the planet by taking
part in expeditions that will study
endangered ecosystems, such as
the rainforests of Mexico and re-
covering farmland in California
and France.

Earthwatch is the third largest
funder of scientific field research
in the United States, following the
National Geographic Society and
-the World Wildlife Fund.

Through members’ and private
donations and costs paid by peo-
ple who go on projects like the
ones named above, the society will
this year finance 146 field expedi-
tions that would likely not happen
otherwise.

Earthwatch provides funding
for scientists, who in return pro-
vide a unique, two-week experi-
ence for ‘‘EarthCorps’” volun-
‘teers, who come from all walks of
life.

According to Vancouver repre-

sentative Alison Wheatley, volun- |

the humpbacks of —

ECO INFO

teers can be old, young, sedentary
or physically fit and simply choose
the project that suits them best.

One of the best-known Ear-
thCorps members, she notes, is a
72-year-old grandmother who has
gone oni 24 expeditions.

Accommodation on the trips
can range from university dorms
in Hawaii, to English country cot-
tages, to tents in Belize.

Cooking is sometimes a shared
job, or sometimes undertaken by
a locai chef who will introduce
you to authentic native cuisine.

While Earthwatch is not yet
well known in Canada, it was
voted part of the “Best of 1991’’
in a recent Business Week issue
and has offices in Europe and
Australia as well as the U.S.

Wheatley says that EarthCorps
members can rarely talk about
anything else for quite a while
after their return from a project.

“Amazingly and honestly, I
haven’t heard one complaint,”’ she
said.

If that’s the case, Earthwatch
has provided a great experience
for a good number of people — in
the 20 years since its inception in

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1971, 32,000 voluntcers have em-
barked on Earthwatch adventures.

Understandably, this is a holi-
day you will have to save some
pennies for. Volunteers cover their
own costs on the expedition, as
well as pay towards equipment
and other field costs.

On average, this works out to
between $1,200 and $2,000,
depending on the project. Volun-
teers must also find their own way
to the town or airport where the
team is meeting.

Fertunately, there are several
interesting researches being done
door in the States that
wouldn’t be too expensive to trav-
el to.

Wheatley’s first trip was to
study sea lion language at the
University of California, but this
year she’s hoping to journey to
Australia to monitor rangeland

wildlife.

Even if you end up paying more
for your two weeks that you
would have spent lying on the
deach at Maui, think of what
you're getting for your vacation
dollar.

Depending on the project you
choose, you’d be trained by top-
flight scientists in excavation
techniques, working with in-
digineous cultures, or interacting
with wildlife that you've previous-
ly seen only on National
Geographic specials.

And those are the benefits to
yourself; consider the positive
planetary effects. Your money and
participation is all being directed
to help preserve, enhance, and
better understand global
ecosystems, human and natural
history, and different cultures.

“Until we know what all the

pieces are, we won’t know how to
save the planet,’’ said Wheatley.
“I joined Earthwatch six years
ago because it really struck me as
a group that was doing some rea}-
ly positive things.’

Earthwatch magazine, which
describes the expeditions, is
published six times a year. The
January/February issue, stocked
at McNews at 15th and Lonsdale,
contains information about almost
ali projects being mounted this
year.

If you want more details on the
project, you can send for a $25
briefing, the cost of which can be
credited to your vacation.

For more information, contact
Earthwatch at 680 Mt. Auburn
St., Box 403, Watertown, MA
02272, phone (617)926-8200 or
fax (617)926-8532.

Watch for our special HOME AND GARDEN section
including HOME SHOW DOLLARS in your North Shore
News, February 12, 1992

Don’t forget to
purchase tickets for
the Kinsman Dream
Home.

Tickets can be
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Show or through the
Kinsman Dream

Home Lottery Hotline

at 736-8335

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FEB. 14-23, 1992