Description

Expedition Summary
You'll monitor mammal populations to determine the impacts of climate change and other environmental challenges.

Expedition Details
Working in diverse habitats, from forests to meadows and from wetlands to sweeping beaches, you'll use various methods to monitor Nova Scotian wildlife. You'll observe the behavior of raccoons, beavers, skunks, and porcupines, and establish the locations of dens and wildlife trails. You may also use infrared video surveillance and camera traps to monitor more elusive animals such as fisher (a type of marten), coyote, or bobcat. You'll use trapping grids to sample rodents and shrews, and count deer and snowshoe hare droppings to estimate their population densities and habitat preferences. You may also be involved with using bat detectors to count bats, sampling invertebrates, surveying seabirds, and watching for marine wildlife. In your recreational time, you can go to the waterfront town of Lunenburg and visit museums, see the famous racing schooner Bluenose, check email, and enjoy the shops.

Meals and Accommodations
Your team will stay in traditional South Shore accommodations, in single-gender, double rooms with twin beds and shared bathrooms, a lecture room, and a large garden with a deck for relaxing in the evening. Spectacular white-sand beaches, rocky inlets, and salty lagoons pepper this coastline, including some of the few remaining breeding areas for the endangered piping plover. Nutritious meals will be provided, sometimes featuring local specialties; you'll be asked to help with kitchen clean-up.

About the Research Area
Geologically, the province of Nova Scotia is the oldest part of the North American Shield. It is almost completely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, connected to mainland Canadas east coast by a tiny piece of land. Across the Bay of Fundy from Nova Scotia is New Brunswick, Canada, north of the state of Maine in the United States. A large part of the province, Cape Breton, is an island connected to Nova Scotias mainland by a causeway. The province is twice the size of Massachusetts, and just a bit smaller than Ireland. Wherever you go in Nova Scotia, you are no more than 56 kilometers (35 miles) from the sea.

Nova Scotias highest point, on hilly Cape Breton Island, is White Hill Lake at 530 meters (1,742 feet) above sea level. The lowest lands in the province are actually below sea level, in the Annapolis Valley. Huge dikes hold back the sea and create thousands of acres of farmland. Much of the middle and upper parts of the province are rocky highland plateaus reminiscent of the Scottish landscapes of many of the provinces ancestors.

Cooks Lake, a focal area for the project, is more than just a lake: The area contains some 330 acres (134 hectares) of mixed coniferous and deciduous woodland, hay meadows, ponds, streams, and wetlands. This woodland has been owned by the family of Earthwatch scientist Dr. Christina Buesching for 20 years as a haven for wildlife.

Highlights

Nova Scotia is a peninsula of wilderness on Canadas rugged Atlantic Coast. Fewer than one million people live here, mostly along the 7,500 kilometers of meandering shoreline, leaving lots of room for an abundance of wildlife. From white-tailed deer to meadow voles, from lynx to loons, the vast forests, rolling hills, and varied coastlines of the South Shore region provide a rich tapestry of species. Watch beavers busily harvesting wood out on the lakes, see otters fishing on the coast, and enjoy the antics of skunks, raccoons, and porcupines as they forage around the field site in the evening.

Nova Scotia's ecological diversity is a product of delicately balanced environmental conditions, and these are vulnerable to the rapid changes expected with global warming. You can help Drs Christina Buesching and Chris Newman explore how Nova Scotia's wilderness ecosystem is being affected by climate change, and help understand the implications for forestry, hunting, and tourism so vital to the local economy.

Travel Types

• Eco Tours
• Ecology
• Environmental Studies
• Hiking
• Nature Tours
• Volunteering
• Photography
• Tours

Qualifications

No experience is necessary - all you will need is enthusiasm and the desire to make a difference. For over 40 years Earthwatch Institute has pioneered the involvement of ordinary people in peer-reviewed scientific research worldwide. By joining an Earthwatch Expedition, you have a unique opportunity to get up-close and personal with some of the worlds rarest animals and visit remote and beautiful locations, while directly supporting conservation science. We offer life enhancing experiences in nearly 50 countries each year, with projects for teens, adults, and families.

Languages

• English

Cost in US$:

1,895 to 2,795 USD

Cost Includes:

• Emergency evacuation services
• Excursions
• Food
• Housing
• In-country orientation/Training
• In-country staff support
• Medical insurance
• Medical services
• Pre-departure orientation/Training
• Registration fees
• Written materials abroad
• Written materials pre-departure

Program Fees Include:

Our volunteers not only contribute essential funds that help to cover the cost of the research, but also, through their inspiration and effort, they provide the people power without which many of our vital projects simply couldn't take place. We are a non-profit organization but accommodation, meals, insurance, training and transport in the field are also included in your contribution cost. As a non-profit organization that supports scientific research, your contribution and airfare costs are usually tax-deductible for U.S. citizens.

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Typical Volunteer

Earthwatch expeditions appeal to a variety of people, including students, retirees, families, educators, and anyone seeking an exciting journey that enables them to give back to the environment. Our expeditions have a wide range of activity levels, from hiking intensive to easy expeditions with limited physical activity. There is an Earthwatch expedition out there for everyone!

Age Range

Teen (age 15 - 18) and adult (age 18-90) teams available.

This Program is open to

Worldwide, American, Asian, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi and South African Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Group living
• Other

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups of 6-12

Scholarships are Available

Very limited fellowships may be available, mainly for high-school students and educators. Visit our website for more information.

Application Process Involves

• Phone/Video Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records

Typically The Application Process Time is

Brief

Post Services Include

• Alumni Network

Earthwatch Institute's Mission Statement

Our mission is to inspire connections between people and the environment by engaging them in worldwide scientific field research and education. These efforts will promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Earthwatch enables scientists to pursue research goals and members of the public to gain hands-on experience with science. We believe it is essential that people participate in solving the environmental challenges we face.

Year Founded

1971