Ecotourism Australia Conference

Dr Jane Gilmour
Executive Director
Earthwatch

Jane Gilmour OAM - BA (Hons) ANU; PhD (Sorbonne); FAICD

Dr Jane Gilmour took up her present position as Executive Director of Earthwatch Institute - Australia in 1992. Earthwatch is an international not-for-profit organisation which supports scientific field research and public education.

Dr Gilmour is a Director of the International Centre for Excellence in Water Resource Management (WaterEd Australia Pty Ltd), Councilor of RMIT and a member of various advisory Committees to government, education and business. She was a Director of Parks Victoria for 1997-2003. Prior to joining Earthwatch, Dr Gilmour worked for the Commission for the Future and the Australia Council.

Earthwatch works in partnership with a range of organisations including research agencies, universities, the corporate sector and other NGOs to promote environmental sustainability.

Partnerships, Research and Ecotourism Opportunities

Earthwatch institute is one of the world's largest private funders of conservation research. Each year we contribute close to $US4m in direct grants to peer-reviewed field research projects and engage 4,000 people as paying or sponsored volunteer field assistants who spend 10-14 days working with a team of professional researchers on a range of data collection tasks, ranging from archaeological digs to radio-tracking endangered species.

Established in 1971 in the United States, the organisation now has affiliates in Australia, the UK and Japan. Five years ago, Earthwatch established a program of Conservation Research Initiatives around the world. One of these is located in North Queensland. This paper will explore the reasons behind the development of this program and how it is playing out in three different locations - North Queensland, the Pantanal in Brazil and Samburu in Kenya. Fundamental to all three is a focus on partnerships, support for research, local engagement and conservation outcomes.

Back to Ecotourism Australia Homepage