By Heather Wilcox | Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
Thanks to the generosity of friends like you, Earthwatch continues to recover from the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty expeditions returned in 2022, and our dedicated scientists welcomed back 640 volunteers throughout the year. This is marked progress over last year, when just 260 volunteers participated on a handful of teams, but still far short of our pre-pandemic levels of 39 expeditions and over 2,100 volunteers. The road ahead to a full recovery is long, but with ongoing support from our global community of donors, volunteers, corporate partners, foundations, scientists, teachers, students, and concerned individuals, we are confident that Earthwatch will get there in the next few years.
Earthwatch’s Tracking Sea Turtles in the Bahamas returned this year for its 7th season following a two-year pause. Dr. Brooks and her staff welcomed 47 volunteers on eight teams between February and July, including four teams of eager high schoolers who got to experience what life as a field scientist could be like should they choose that career path. While the majority of research was conducted on Eleuthera, two teams of volunteers returned to the Abaco Islands for the first time following the devastation that Hurricane Dorian wreaked on the region in September 2019.
We look forward to seeing Dr. Brooks’ comparison of the data collected both pre- and post-hurricane, as well as pre- and post-pandemic, to determine what if any impacts either event had on the endangered green, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles that spend a critical part of their life cycles foraging in the warm, shallow waters of The Bahamas. In the meantime, Earthwatch will finish wrapping up its marine conservation efforts at nine other locations around the world, from Costa Rica to South Africa, from Indonesia to Australia and the United States. As the health of our oceans remains under threat from overfishing, pollution, coastal development, and climate change, every year’s worth of data collected is vital to our complete understanding of the challenges at hand, and our ability to identify the most effective protection and remediation strategies.
Although Earthwatch volunteers do contribute financially to the expeditions they participate on, the cost of scientific equipment, permits and licenses, group accommodations, and 24/7 support staff quickly exceeds what we can reasonably ask volunteers to contribute beyond their significant donations of time and labor. Earthwatch must raise over $500,000 annually in order to fully fund our year-round conservation efforts. This is why donors like YOU are so critical to Earthwatch’s success. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to protecting endangered sea turtles and preserving the health of our oceans.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Earthwatch
By Heather Wilcox | Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
By Heather Wilcox | Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
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