Earthwatch Institute

Earthwatch is an international environmental charity.

Founded in 1971, our mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. 

We enable people from all walks of life to join leading scientists working on crucial environmental research projects locally and globally. We're one of the world's largest private funders of scientific research.

Since we were founded, around 100,000 people from the general public have joined Earthwatch in the field, contributing roughly 10,000,000 hours of data collection—far more than our scientists could have collected alone. Our expeditions offer experiences that are very different from those of for-profit tour operators, because our volunteers get meaningfully involved with real scientific fieldwork.

Earthwatch participants assist in activities designed to advance science while experiencing parts of the world tourists never see, and enjoying the adventure of a lifetime in the process.

We bring members of the public together with world-class scientists to work for the good of the planet. These paying participants, aged 15 up to retirees, assist noted scientists in the field for 1-3 weeks. No special skills are required. Project disciplines range from a-z; from archaeology, animal behavior, ecology, marine biology, to forestry, ornithology, paleontology, world health, and zoology. For more information, including full descriptions of our current expeditions, see www.earthwatch.org.