THESE ECO-ADVENTURES HELP TO SAVE OUR PLANET

ECOLOGY PROJECT INTERNATIONAL

If you have a passion for adventure, and you love learning about science and nature, check out the educational adventure programs offered by Ecology Project International.

EPI is a nonprofit organization on a mission to improve and inspire science education and conservation efforts worldwide. EPI runs programs that offer nature and science enthusiasts awesome educational adventures through field-based student-scientist partnerships.

In the early 1990’s, educator Scott Pankratz and scientist Julie Osborn were both studying and working in Costa Rica, home to about 5% of the world's biodiversity.

Alarmingly, Osborn and Pankratz saw that in spite of federal protections, many critical habitats & species, in Costa Rica and elsewhere, submitted to human-induced decline, mainly because local populations didn’t understand or value them.

In 2000, Pankratz & Osborn launched the 1st EPI program in Costa Rica, with a series of courses designed to involve locals in conservation.

For example, students who lived within 5 miles of the sea turtle conservation project, ate turtle eggs, decimating their population, without ever before having seen a live sea turtle.

Students worked with researchers at Pacuare Nature Reserve to measure, tag, and count turtles and their eggs. Sometimes they relocated them to a safer location to avoid predation.

Students gained an appreciation for the biodiversity and ecological importance of their native land. And they spread the enlightenment throughout their communities, for a ripple effect, widening the conservation network.

While more than 70% of EPI participants are underserved youth living near conservation project sites, the rest are nature and science enthusiasts, from all over the world, with a passion for adventure.

EPI now offers programs in 5 countries. To date, more than 20,000 students have participated, working with scientists on active research projects in the world’s most important ecological hotspots. 

EPI’s program site in Costa Rica, reports that the predation rate of turtle nesting sites has dropped from 98% in 2000 to less than 1% today.

EPI’s Belize Program offers lessons in biology, reef biogeography, and rainforest conservation. Students and scientists work together to develop, analyze and present a field-based research project based on the data they collect on dolphins and lionfish. Most local students have never before seen the coral reef.

What better way to explore the Galapagos than with the immersive EPI Galapagos Island Ecology program adventure! Learn about the endemic species that sparked Darwin’s theory of evolution while you learn about important conservation concerns. 

You’ll get an up close and personal experience working via EPI's exclusive partnership with the Galapagos National Park.

Get ready for lessons in tortoise biology, island biogeography, and conservation efforts in the Galapagos archipelago, as you prep for your field research. 

You'll monitor both baby and adult tortoises and work on a service project to restore their native habitat. Local students of the islands' high schools participate.

After your fieldwork is complete, you are off to snorkel, hike, and ogle some of the most beautiful, unique wildlife on the planet.

Find eco-adventure bliss in Mexico at EPI’s Baja Island Ecology program. There, students snorkel in shallow crystalline turquoise waters to collect underwater data that helps inform local policy.

The waters here are teeming with echinoderms, such as sea stars and sea urchins. You’ll study them as you swim among oodles of sea lions swim .

There’s plenty of adventure on dry land as well, as you learn about the surrounding deserts, Sierra de la Laguna mountains, dry forests, and endemic wildlife.

While many people visit Yellowstone National Park, few people get the immersive adventure experience offered by EPI. 

EPI’s Yellowstone Wildlife Ecology program offers a week in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), including Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service scientists will teach you about local habitat restoration and bison research projects.

You'll also study wolf packs, get close to geysers and hot pools, and take a rapturous raft ride down the Yellowstone River.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Ecology Project.” Baja, Mexico.
2. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Marine Ecology.” Belize.
3. Image: by Adam Martell, of Adventure Adam Blog. “Mad Monkey.” Rio Pacuare, Costa Rica.
4. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Ecology Project.” Baja, Mexico.
5. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Sea Turtle Ecology.” Costa Rica.
6. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. ‘Ecology Project.” Costa Rica.
7. Image: by Adam Martell, of Adventure Adam Blog. Rio Pacuare, Costa Rica.
8. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Pacuare Nature Reserve.” Costa Rica.
9. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Ecology Project.” Baja, Mexico.
10. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Sea Turtle Ecology.” Costa Rica.
11. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Marine Ecology.” Belize.
12. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Sea Lion. Island Ecology.” Galapagos Islands.
13. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Galapagos Tortoise. Island Ecology.” Galapagos Islands.
14. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Galapagos Baby Tortoise. Island Ecology.” Galapagos Islands.
15. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Ecology Project.” Baja, Mexico.
16. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Ecology Project.” Baja, Mexico.
17. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Wildlife Ecology.” Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
18. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Wildlife Ecology.” Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
19. Image: by Amber White. Ecology Project International’s “Wildlife Ecology.” Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
20. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Marine Ecology.” Belize.
21. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Pacuare Nature Reserve.” Costa Rica.
22. Image: by BN App - Download now!
23. Image: Courtesy of Ecology Project International. “Baja Island Ecology.” Mexico.