the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

TALKING WITH ENTREPRENEURS, ACTIVISTS, + EXPLORERS HERE'S WHAT SOME FOUNDERS AND MAVERICKS OF THE FIELD HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT, AND WHAT MAKES A TRIP SUCCESSFUL. BRIAN ROSBOROUGH TRUSTEE AND FOUNDING CHAIRMAN EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE If you sign up for an expedition with Earthwatch Institute (EW), you'll work side by side with world-famous scientists. EW sponsors more than 140 research projects in 46 countries, creating partnerships among scientists, the general public, educators, and businesses. From observing the behavior of Australia's mysterious marsupial moles to excavating ancient stone structures in central Mongolia, volunteers of all ages and nationalities help preserve the world's best outdoor classrooms. How WAS EW STARTED 30 YEARS AGO? I was trying to make a living as an investment banker and was called by a young man associated with the Smithsonian who mistakenly thought I had money. He was trying to start a program he called Educational Expeditions. The first trip was to support astronomers from Harvard and the Smithsonian. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn't have the money, so on a whim, I called the National Geographic Society. I asked to speak to somebody in the film department and they seemed interested. I said there was a small issue of a $50,000 facilities fee-I have no idea where I came up with that. They said no problem. That changed my life. How DID YOUR CAREER AS AN INVESTMENT BANKER HELP WITH CREATING EW? I realized that my own training to find and support entrepreneurs was needed in the academic research arena. I instantly saw the connection: If you can take a trucking company, or a computer company public by selling shares, why can't you take a biologist or anthropologist public and sell shares in their ventures? It would be an investment in learning. It was sort of pioneering what is now called social venture capital, where people invest in good ideas for civic and social causes and get some financial return (a tax deduction). How DID YOU FIND ACADEMIC PARTNERS FOR YOUR PROJECTS? I went around and talked to the most distinguished people I could find: the oceanographer Roger Revelle, Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, Harrison Brown, the geochemist who worked with the National Academy of Science ... I told them about the problem and what I thought we could do about it-but I didn't ask them for anything. Then I went around a second time and revisited them in the order of their interest. Finally I got down to Margaret Mead, who had almost thrown me out of her office the first time. I had heard her speak at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston. She was near the later part of her life and she had said in a very commanding way to the audience, "We don't have time to do what I did when I was a Bryn Mawr student, which was to sit on islands and contemplate changes and life, and nature and culture. We have to gather huge chunks of information and do it with some expedience so we can understand the implications of change." So I went to her with her own words and said that is exactly what Earthwatch intended to do. She said sign me up. So then we engaged in peer review of research proposals. We would get 300 to 400 proposals a year. How HAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TRAVEL EVOLVED OVER TIME? We developed EW as service to science. I realized we were dealing with scientists who were tentative about committing to a nontraditional source of funding, but also realized that there was a very valuable role that people who are willing to travel can play. We tried to accommodate the scientists' concerns by muting any association with travel or recreation, and so we called travelers volunteers to indicate that they were giving something to the process-their time, money, etc .. .In fact, I used to run from people like you because I didn't want to appear in a travel magazine. Now mission- oriented travel moves more and more people to work on issues like desertification and water salinity. WHAT ROLE DO VOLUNTEERS PLAY? Volunteers work very hard collecting data. They have no control over their time, and have to get up at odd hours. One of the early enchantments of Earthwatch was feedback from scientists who said, "I learned so much from the volunteers. They came from different professions with languages and skills that I don't have, and they saw my work in a new light and challenged my hypothesis. When I travel to their region they host me." It became kind of a family. WHAT KIND OF IMPACTS DO EW EXPEDITIONS HAVE ON VOLUNTEERS? Volunteers go into the field to see the problem firsthand, and then they go home owning the problem. Once the problem is owned it usually gets solved. The long-term solutions to major issues, like sustainable development, can only be fully understood by people who have addressed the problems firsthand. As one student said on her return from an EW project, "you can explain snow to a Samoan-its complex feel, its taste, its source-but until the Samoan first experiences the snow, he or she can't fully understand what you're talking about." WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO VOLUNTEERS WHO WANT TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR EW EXPEDITION? You just answered your own question-get the most out of it. The mind is happiest when it's learning. I just wish I could go along with them every time. "IF YOU CAN TAKE A COMPUTER COMPANY PUBLIC BY SELLING SHARES, WHY CAN'T YOU TAKE A BIOLOGIST OR ANTHROPOLOGIST PUBLIC AND SELL SHARES IN THEIR VENTURES?" BRIAN ROSBOROUGH, TRUSTEE + FOUNOING CHAIRMAN, EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE VOLUNTEER PROJECTS ARGENTINA'S PAMPAS CARNIVORES: Using the status of carnivores to measure and mitigate human impact on Argentina's prairies. RESTORING VIETNAM'S FORESTS: Gathering baseline data on forest ecology to restore native tree species. CANYONLAND CREEK ECOLOGY: Researching the impacts of wilderness roads on desert stream ecology. CONTACT: EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE, 800-776-0188, www.earthwatch.org.info@.earthwatch.org 23

• Cover