Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program
Since 2008, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program has sponsored 99 students and 39 mentors to nine countries to study wildlife. For many, it is their first experience outside the United States, and, when these students return from their trips, they are truly transformed.
In 2008, Linda Duttenhaver made a trip to the Los Angeles Zoo that changed her life. A long-time advocate for environmental conservation and education, Linda asked how she could help. And thus was born the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
Linda herself experienced and benefitted from an international study program when she was in college and was so changed by the experience that she has looked for opportunities to provide high school students with a similar opportunity, but one tied directly to participating in conservation field research projects.
About
The Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program is offered to eligible North Hollywood Magnet High School and Los Angeles Zoo Student Volunteer juniors and seniors to provide enriching opportunities in a science-based curriculum.
Program participants gain valuable field research experience and exposure to the natural world. Students are teamed-up with Zoo adult mentors on a field research expedition through Earthwatch Institute. They work side by side with Earthwatch scientists, helping with data collection and research support tasks. Their experience underscores the value of teamwork, builds interpersonal and problem-solving skills, stimulates interest in conservation science, and encourages further exploration in science education.
Scholarships cover an award winner’s roundtrip airfare and most living expenses while on the expedition. The scholarship does not cover any costs associated with the recreation day, passport or visa costs, immunization costs, or supply costs.
2024 Trip
The Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to Brazil to support large-scale reforestation efforts being investigated at REGUA, the Reserva Ecológica de Guapiacu, in Rio De Janeiro – a hotspot of Brazilian biodiversity in the vanishing Atlantic Rainforest. To support these efforts, our team partnered with REGUA’s field research team by conducting mammal surveys and tending the reserve’s nursery by preparing soils and de-weeding seedlings. Our findings from this project will help inform how wildlife biodiversity responds to large-scale reforestation management and better safeguard the forest and its wildlife for generations now and to come.
By traveling to locations such as Thailand, Costa Rica, Africa, Brazil, and France, these students obtain invaluable international experience. When they return, they have a broader world view, more self-confidence, and stronger teamwork skills. This real-world experience prepares them well for future careers and life experiences. It has been my joy to support this program for the past 16 years!”
Linda Duttenhaver
Past Trips
2019 – COSTA RICA
Costa Rica to study Conserving Wild Bees and Other Pollinators of Costa Rica
The Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to Coast Rica to assist in the study of pollinators and pollination services. The findings from this project, combined with other research on pollinators in the region, could help Costa Rica to become the first country in Central America to institute a national policy to protect pollinators.
2018 – COSTA RICA
Costa Rica to study monkeys, parrots and other wildlife in the Coto Brus tropical forest
The Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to Las Cruces Biological Station in Southern Costa Rica to help professors and graduate students from Northern Arizona University investigate the role that fruiting trees play in providing habitat for rainforest animals on Central American farmland.
2017 – KENYA
Kenya to study elephants and sustainable agriculture
In 2017, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to Kenya to study elephants and sustainable agriculture. Elephant–human conflict has long been a conservation challenge in Asia, where expanding agriculture and development have been encroaching on elephant habitat.
2016 – TRINIDAD
Trinidad to study ocelots
In 2016, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to Trinidad to study ocelots. Trinidad provides a unique context for researchers to study these animals, as larger wild cats, including pumas and jaguars that typically influence ocelot ecology, are not found on the island.
2015 – FRANCE
France to study wildlife in the changing Pyranees
In 2015, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team traveled to France’s Midi-Pyrenees region to study the impact of climate change.
2014 – SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa to study leopards and monkeys at the Lajuma Research Center in the Soutpansberg Mountains
The 2014 Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team had the amazing opportunity to travel to South Africa with Earthwatch. They spent two weeks at the Lajuma Research Centre, a remote research station in the Soutpansberg Mountains, working with scientists of the Primate and Predator project.
2013 – THAILAND
Thailand to study Asian elephants at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation’s research site
In 2013, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program sent a team of students and mentors on an Earthwatch adventure to Thailand to study Asian elephants.
2012 – PERU
Amazon Riverboat Expedition in Peru
For approximately two weeks in July, seven students and three mentors were involved with field work in the remote Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in Loreto, Peru. The goal of the expedition was to take population surveys of indicator species such as pink and gray river dolphins, caiman, macaws, and fish in the Samiria River, to gauge the health of the ecoystem in the incredibly biodiverse, undeveloped region.
2011 – KENYA
Kenya to study the Grevy’s zebra populations in Samburu
In July 2011, seven students and three adult mentors were the fortunate participants in a two-week expedition to the tiny town of Wamba in Kenya. The student-mentor team assisted scientists with ongoing studies examining the ecology and conservation of the Endangered Grevy’s Zebra at the EarthWatch Institute Center for Drylands Research.
2010 – PERU
Peru to study macaws
Eight students and four adult mentors were the lucky participants in a two-week expedition to the Peruvian Amazon in July 2010. The student-mentor team assisted scientists with ongoing studies examining the ecology and conservation of macaws in the Tambopata Natural Reserve.
2009 – ECUADOR
Ecuador to study climate change, canopies and wildlife
Eight students and four adult mentors were the lucky participants in an eleven-day expedition to the cloud forests of Ecuador in July 2009. The student-mentor team took part in an Earthwatch Institute research project studying climate change, canopies and wildlife in the Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve in Ecuador.
2008 – BRAZIL
Brazil to study carnivore populations in Emas National Park
Six students and four adult mentors were the lucky participants in an expedition to the grasslands of Brazil in July 2008. For its inaugural journey, the Duttenhaver Conservation Field Study Program team took part in an Earthwatch Institute research project studying the carnivore population in Emas National Park.