Volunteering on Vacation

(Photograph by Guy Stockton/Earthwatch Institute)

By Nicole Wallace

The people at Earthwatch Institute believe science by itself is not enough to solve the world's environmental problems.

So, in addition to making grants to support conservation research, the Maynard, Mass., group organizes expeditions to enable volunteers to work side by side with scientists.

Each year nearly 4,000 volunteers help track lions in the savannah in Kenya, dig for mammoth bones in South Dakota, monitor the health of coral reefs, and participate in other research.

"It causes them to think about the way they live their own lives and how they can do that more sustainably," says James Fry, international director of volunteer programs at Earthwatch. After returning home, he says, most volunteers share their experiences with friends and family members, get involved with local environmental efforts, and, in some cases, raise money to support the research projects they participated in.

Last year, the money that volunteers paid to participate accounted for $6.1-million of the organization's $20.6-million budget.

Here, a volunteer collects information about elephants in Kenya as part of a project to better understand their behavior and to help local officials and landowners make better decisions about wildlife corridors, fences, and water use.

To see more photos of trips for volunteers, including a trip to an Ausch­witz concentration camp and bike tours to help the homeless, go to http://philanthropy.com/media/flash/v21/i20/vacations/.