Ecology Project International

Ecology Project International (EPI) is a United States-based nonprofit environmental education organization headquartered in Missoula, Montana. Its work combines youth education, scientific fieldwork, and community-based conservation. Rather than treating students as passive recipients of environmental information, EPI places them in working landscapes and seascapes alongside scientists, park staff, land managers, and community organizations. Participants typically include young people and educators, with many programs aimed at students approximately 14 to 20 years old. The organization emerged from the experience of co-founders Scott Pankratz and Julie Osborn, who worked in Costa Rica during the 1990s. They observed that major research efforts and extensive scientific knowledge did not necessarily prevent the decline of important habitats and species. Their response was to develop a model in which local students and communities could participate directly in conservation research and management. EPI began developing this approach in 1998 and held its first field program in Costa Rica in May 2000. That initial program involved 61 students and teachers and focused on monitoring and protecting nesting leatherback sea turtles. EPI became an independent United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2001. It subsequently expanded its field partnerships and conservation subjects. Work in the Galápagos Islands began in 2003 with a green sea turtle monitoring partnership involving the Charles Darwin Research Station. Programs in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Montana began in 2005, followed by the opening of an EPI campus in La Paz, Mexico, in 2006. The organization moved its headquarters to Missoula in 2010, consolidating its world headquarters and Yellowstone operations there. The organization’s current or established program geography includes Belize, Costa Rica, mainland Ecuador, the Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Greater Yellowstone region of the United States. Its field courses generally last between five and fourteen days. Depending on location, students may monitor marine turtles, survey reefs and seagrass beds, collect information on whales and dolphins, help track giant tortoises, remove invasive species, restore habitat, study ungulates and amphibians, or contribute to projects involving large mammals and threatened plants. The work is intended to produce useful observations for conservation partners while also improving scientific literacy and participants’ understanding of local ecological and cultural priorities. EPI’s programs are designed around partnerships with local experts and institutions. Examples include work with the Toledo Institute for Development and Education in Belize, the Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station in Ecuador, Mexican marine research and conservation organizations, the United States Forest Service in Montana, and Hawaiian organizations involved in marine-resource management, wildlife recovery, and land conservation. In Costa Rica, EPI operates conservation education and leatherback research activities at Pacuare Reserve, a coastal rainforest reserve donated to the organization in 2015. The organization has also experimented with new geographic and thematic programs. A Panama program operated from 2012 to 2015. In 2017, EPI piloted a Hawaii Ecology Program based on Maui and an Andes to Amazon Ecology Program in Ecuador. Across its field programs, EPI reports that more than 45,000 participants have taken part since its first field season. Its public profile has included recognition connected with workplace quality and monitoring and evaluation, as well as television and media features. EPI’s central positioning remains the integration of place-based education, hands-on science, mentorship, and conservation action.

Ecology Project International was conceived by Scott Pankratz and Julie Osborn after their work in Costa Rica during the 1990s. Both saw a gap between the amount of scientific research being conducted in important ecosystems and the continuing decline of some habitats and species. They concluded that conservation would be stronger when people living near those ecosystems were involved in research, education, and stewardship. In 1998, they began shaping an organization that would bring local youth and educators into direct partnerships with scientists and conservation professionals. EPI’s first field season took place in Costa Rica in May 2000. The inaugural program involved 61 Costa Rican students and teachers and focused on critically endangered leatherback sea turtles. Participants patrolled nesting beaches at night, collected information, and studied the turtles and surrounding lowland tropical forest during the day. This established the organization’s basic operating model: students learn in the field while contributing to practical conservation objectives identified by local partners. In October 2001, EPI obtained independent nonprofit status in the United States under section 501(c)(3). The organization expanded outside Costa Rica in February 2003, when it began a Galápagos program in partnership with the Charles Darwin Research Station. The early Galápagos work included monitoring green sea turtles and introduced students to conservation challenges in an island ecosystem. Expansion continued in 2005 with programs in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Montana. The Mexico work was developed with the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas and focused on marine and island ecology. The Montana program was developed with the United States Forest Service near Gardiner and connected students with conservation issues in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. EPI opened its La Paz campus in 2006. In 2010, EPI moved its headquarters to Missoula, Montana. The move placed its global administrative offices and Yellowstone program offices in the same location. The organization later added a Panama program in 2012. That initiative centered on local students but ended in 2015. In 2013, EPI opened an office in Belize and built partnerships with the Oceanic Society and the University of Belize. A significant development in Costa Rica occurred in 2015, when John and Hilda Denham donated Pacuare Reserve to EPI. The approximately 2,500-acre coastal rainforest reserve includes important leatherback nesting habitat and supports field-based education, nest protection, monitoring, and research. The reserve became closely connected to EPI’s long-running Costa Rica program. In 2017, the organization piloted two additional initiatives: a Hawaii Ecology Program based on Maui and an Andes to Amazon Ecology Program in Ecuador. The Hawaii work connected students with marine-resource, wildlife-recovery, land-conservation, and cultural restoration partners. Across its geographic network, EPI developed programs covering coral reefs, seagrass, marine mammals, sea turtles, giant tortoises, invasive species, tropical forests, large mammals, amphibians, bison, and threatened trees. EPI’s field courses generally run from five to fourteen days and involve youth, educators, scientists, land managers, and local conservation organizations. The work has included monitoring wildlife, collecting ecological data, restoring habitat, protecting nests, and supporting management decisions. In Belize, students study the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, seagrasses, Antillean manatees, yellow-headed parrots, and terrestrial wildlife in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. In the Galápagos, they assist with giant tortoise monitoring, nest protection, juvenile care, invasive-species removal, and habitat restoration. In Mexico, programs address turtles, whales, dolphins, marine invertebrates, and island ecosystems. In the United States, students have contributed to projects involving grizzly bears, lynx, bison, ungulates, amphibians, whitebark pine, and bristlecone pine. The organization states that more than 45,000 participants have joined its field programs since the first season. EPI has also received public recognition, including repeated inclusion in Outside magazine’s Best Places to Work listings from 2012 through 2015 and an Eco-Index Best Monitoring and Evaluation Methodology Award covering 2011 through 2014. Its work has been featured on programs including Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin and Nat Geo WILD Central America with Nigel Marvin. The available reference material does not establish a single current chief executive, detailed financial history, or a complete account of all program operations.

• 2017

  Hawaii and Andes to Amazon programs piloted

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI piloted new programs in Maui, Hawaii, and Ecuador’s Andes-to-Amazon region.

• 2015

  Pacuare Reserve donated to EPI

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  John and Hilda Denham donated Pacuare Reserve, an approximately 2,500-acre coastal rainforest reserve in Costa Rica.

• 2013

  Belize office opens

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI opened a Belize office and developed partnerships with the Oceanic Society and the University of Belize.

• 2012

  Panama program commences

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI launched a Panama program for local students; the program later concluded in 2015.

• 2010

  Headquarters moves to Missoula

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI relocated its headquarters to Missoula, Montana, alongside its Yellowstone program offices.

• 2006

  La Paz campus opens

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI opened its Mexico campus in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

• 2005

  Programs begin in Mexico and Montana

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI expanded to Baja California Sur and the Greater Yellowstone region through partnerships with marine researchers and the United States Forest Service.

• 2003

  Galápagos program begins

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI began a Galápagos program with the Charles Darwin Research Station, initially including green sea turtle monitoring.

• 2001

  Independent nonprofit status established

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI received official United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

• 2000

  First Costa Rica field program

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  EPI’s inaugural field season involved 61 students and teachers monitoring and protecting nesting leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica.

• 1998

  EPI begins developing its conservation-education model

  [1]Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  Scott Pankratz and Julie Osborn began forming an organization that would connect local youth and communities with scientists working on conservation problems.

EPI positions itself at the intersection of experiential education and applied conservation. Its distinguishing approach is to connect youth and educators with local experts and professional researchers in biologically significant places, allowing participants to contribute to real monitoring, restoration, and species-protection projects rather than receiving only classroom-based instruction.

• Marine conservation education · 2000

  Costa Rica Leatherback Ecology Program

  A field-based program on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast focused on critically endangered leatherback sea turtles. Students patrol nesting beaches, collect monitoring data, protect nests, and learn about the surrounding lowland tropical rainforest. Activities may include relocating nests when needed to reduce human or environmental threats. The program combines local conservation priorities with direct participation by high-school-age youth and educators.

• Island conservation education · 2003

  Galápagos Ecology Program

  The Galápagos program engages students in the protection and recovery of island biodiversity. In partnership with conservation authorities and research institutions, participants have monitored wild giant tortoises, protected nests, cared for juveniles, removed invasive species, and helped restore habitat. The program builds understanding of the ecological pressures affecting endemic and threatened species in an island environment.

• Marine and terrestrial conservation education · 2013

  Belize Ecology Program

  EPI’s Belize activities focus on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and connected terrestrial ecosystems in southern Belize. Students work with local partners to survey reefs and seagrass, gather information about Antillean manatees and yellow-headed parrots, and visit Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. The program links marine monitoring with forest and large-mammal conservation, including ecosystems associated with jaguars and peccaries.

• Marine biodiversity education · 2005

  Mexico Turtle, Whale, and Island Ecology Programs

  Based in Baja California Sur, these programs involve young people in research and conservation related to turtles, whales, dolphins, marine invertebrates, and island ecosystems. Students collect observations used to understand population conditions and ecosystem health, address threats to marine and terrestrial biodiversity, and support broader conservation planning, including work connected with a proposed conservation zone.

• Wildlife and habitat conservation education · 2005

  Yellowstone Ecology Program

  The Yellowstone program connects students with conservation projects in Montana’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Earlier and continuing work has addressed grizzly bears, lynx, whitebark pine, bristlecone pine, bison, other ungulates, and amphibians. Students learn about interactions between people and wildlife while contributing field observations and management-oriented projects intended to support habitat protection and land-management decisions.

• Marine and cultural ecology education · 2017

  Hawaii Ecology Program

  Piloted in 2017 and based on Maui, the Hawaii program combines reef ecology, wildlife recovery, land conservation, and Hawaiian cultural learning. Student activities include snorkeling-based reef surveys and ecological restoration projects. Partnerships have included the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, the Hawaii Wildlife Fund Hawksbill Recovery Project, and the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.

• Landscape ecology education · 2017

  Andes to Amazon Ecology Program

  EPI piloted this Ecuador-based program in 2017 to connect students with ecological and conservation issues spanning the Andes and Amazon regions. The available reference material identifies the pilot but does not provide enough detail to describe its current curriculum, partners, or operating status.

• 2017

  Pilot launch of Hawaii and Andes to Amazon ecology programsProduct launch

  Background

  EPI sought to extend its place-based conservation education model into new ecosystems and communities.

  Action taken

  The organization piloted a Hawaii Ecology Program based on Maui and an Andes to Amazon Ecology Program in Ecuador.

  Aftermath

  The available sources do not document the pilots’ subsequent enrollment, financial results, or full long-term operating outcomes.

  Source

1. 1Ecology Project Internationalen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ecology Project International official websiteecologyproject.org