1. What is Earthwatch?
Earthwatch Institute offers teachers the experience to participate in field research projects
Anyone can participate but there are stipends offered to teachers and educators

2. What is an Earthwatch Expedition?
Teachers/Volunteers experience working with “Principal Investigators” or “PI’s” and a team of volunteers collecting primary source data
Earthwatch sends more than 600 teams of volunteers out into the field with more than 130 PI’s around the world to collect data during a two week period

3. What is an Education Award?
The awards are based on a very competitive application process
Teachers/Volunteers are assigned to projects according to their skills, personal interests, and project needs

4. Benefits and Outcomes Professional Development Research Skills
Scientific Knowledge
Curriculum Development
Resources/Materials
Network Opportunities

5. Who can participate in Earthwatch?
K-12 Educators
Administrators
Public and private schools

6. What you can do! Complete an Earthwatch application
Send a 2-3 paragraph recommendation from a peer or supervisor
$20 application fee

7. What are Earthwatch Fellows Responsibilities?
Complete a final report (4-6 pages)
Include 6-20 digital photographs
Include any press that you might have received with your report

8. Why the Pantanal? One of the largest wetlands in the world
One of the greatest concentrations of tropical wildlife
This includes:Hyacinth macaws
Neotropical/Giant otters
Toco Toucans
Jabiru storks
Rheas

9. Hyacinth Macaw

10. Neotropical Otter

11. Giant Otter

12. Toco Toucan

13. Jabiru Storks

14. Rheas

15. …continued The Pantanal is considered the “kidneys of the landscape”
Includes 4 major South American ecosystems: savannahs
forests
lakes
rivers

16. View from Above the Pantanal

17. Preserving a way of life…
Earthwatch PI’s are trying to find a way that inhabitants and their culture don’t make too much of an impact on the flora and fauna within the Pantanal region
Teachers/Volunteers are needed to collect data so that policies for sustainable management and conservation of the Pantanal are developed and implemented

19. Oecomys

20. …continued
With only 300,000 people living in the region the impact still threatens conservation of the region
For example: burning/deforestation
poaching
chemical pollutants
road construction
damming the river systems

21. Data Collection involves the following:
Trapping peccaries
Observing giant otters
“Focalizing” trees for birds and fruits

22. Tools used in Data Collection
Digital photograph
Video
GPS units
Field notebooks
Measuring tape

23. Looking for Otters

24. What then?
Data is then downloaded into a Geographic Information System (GIS) such as Arcview and then displayed on a layout for review and interpretation