Island Hopping

Dr. Uli Reinhardt writes:

Have you ever wanted to get rid of your stress by destroying invasive weeds ? Have you ever wanted to travel to the Galapagos Islands? Now you can realize both wishes at once. Dr. Uli Reinhardt from Eastern Michigan University and the Charles Darwin Research Station on Galapagos have set up a new conservation research project with Earthwatch Institute. The goal of the project is to save the last large remaining stand of the endemic Scalesia pedunculata forest from such nasty invasives as blackberry, guava, quinine an passion fruit. The weeds are displacing the native plants rapidly and research into their spread and the effectiveness of various control methods is badly needed. The NGO Earthwatch sends volunteers to all corners of the planet to fund and carry out research. Details about the Galapagos project can be found at in the Expedition Briefing (.pdf).

Maybe this is not your idea of a vacation, but it sounds like fun to me. Dr. Reinhardt and his team are out on their third trip right now, with two more expeditions planned for the end of 2005.