<p>Does this look legit to you all?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.earthwatch.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.earthwatch.org/</a></p>
<p>It is legit. My teacher, I believe, is part of this. She really dislikes Sierra club and greenpeace.</p>
<p>My wife and I have been on several Earthwatch expeditions. They are a little expensive (mostly deductible), but incredible trips. Our first was a caving expedition to Romania back when the country was a tightly controlled communist dictatorship. That expedition led to many life-long friendships in Romania and we have been back on other expeditions there (on our own) seven more times.</p>
<p>My wife also did an octopus study Earthwatch trip at the Bermuda Biological Research Station, went back again the next year (helping the expedition, on her own) and that led to long-time friends and many trips back to Bermuda (again, on our own) for everything from helping a friend (that we met in Romania) photograph the underwater caves to just relaxing vacations.</p>
<p>I can't recommend this enough. Earthwatch is a fantastic, fantastic program and a good start on a lifetime of international adventuring.</p>
<p>What do you have to do to apply? It does look expensive. I didn't know you had to pay money to volunteer.</p>
<p>It's definitely legit. I interviewed for a job there a couple of years ago.</p>
<p>The money you pay goes for two purposes: the first is to help fund the expedition. Principal Investigators (PI's) come to Earthwatch for funding just like they'd approach any other funding agency for a research grant. Earthwatch will grant the funds if the research fits their profiles of what they like to see and if they think they can get the volunteers to sign up and pay for the grant (plus Earthwatch's overhead). The money for these expeditions has to come from somewhere; in Earthwatch's case, it comes from the volunteers.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that the expedition cost listed in their catalog (or on the website) does not include transportation to the pickup point which can, depending on the location, be a lot more money.</p>
<p>Is it worth it? So much depends on the PI, the location, the work involved, and the others on the team you sign up for. But the ones we've participated in (either through Earthwatch or with the PI directly) have been incredible, memorable, once-in-a-lifetime adventures. One thing to look for are PI's with lots of Earthwatch experience behind them. They have a track record and tend to be popular, although both groups we worked with were first-time PI's.</p>
<p>BTW, the minimum age is 16, but the ages of the team members varies all over the place.</p>
<p>It would be nice if I could afford something like that. I found one opportunity that is even related to my major and could probably be counted as work experience maybe, but $1,000+ for these things is insane. :(</p>