LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT | APPLICATION

WHAT IS THE ECOWORLD VIRTUAL CONTRIBUTOR'S NETWORK? Welcome to the EcoWorld virtual contributor's network. You have the opportunity to participate in the construction of one of the world's premier database of species and ecosystems. Not only will you participate in creating a database, however, but you will be helping to create a living forum where not just the vital statistics about species and ecosystems are captured and presented, but also ongoing information about their health and status. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? This program is meant for everyone! Scientists, students, companies and their employees, or anyone from the general public is welcome to help us create a premier information resource. As long as you have the time to volunteer then please apply. Our editorial staff will evaluate your application and help you select an area where you are most qualified to provide accurate and useful information. WHY SHOULD YOU PARTICIPATE? The living, constantly updated databases we are creating here are becoming a resource for environmental researchers, activists, and supporters throughout the world. These databases, as participation grows, are evolving to accommodate greater and more useful details, which will allow the databases to provide more useful services to people everywhere. Please note that this information will always be available to anyone in the world, and it will always be free. Moreover, EcoWorld is also a place where reports are filed and updated regularly on projects underway worldwide to preserve and restore species and ecosystems, and you may also choose to contribute to these sections of our website. The information in the databases of species and ecosystems provides vital additional quantitative data and perspective for persons who are learning about these projects and will help increase support for these projects. WHAT MAKES THIS SO UNIQUE? Our goal is to catalog information on the principal species and ecosystems of the planet in one place, in a format that can be understood by members of the general public. While the internet has fostered a plethora of online sources of environmental information, they are generally highly specialized, addressing only specific areas of concern, and are usually difficult for non-scientists to understand. EcoWorld offers you a website organized in a format whereby your information can be easily found. We can offer complete technical support, production, a growing audience, and a pathway from knowledge to activism; from local to global. HOW DO YOU PARTICIPATE? 1) Articles & Essays - either as responses to the issues as they are framed in the earth categories or as articles to go into the EcoWorld articles database. 2) Projects - summaries of projects you know of that are underway to preserve or restore species and ecosystems. 3) Data - updating records of species and ecosystems and adding records, or adding complexity (additional fields) to records. The first step is to become familiar with the databases as we have organized them here on EcoWorld.com. As you will see, the main categories are Air, Water, Earth, Plants, Trees, Animals and People. Within each of these categories are several more specific databases, as shown on the database map below: Air Water Earth Plants Trees Animals People Essays, Articles and Opinions Air Pollution Water Scarcity Energy Endangered Species Deforestation Endangered Species Population Growth Climate Change Water Pollution Erosion Trangenic Crops MonoCropping Hormone/ Antibiotic Stock Globalization Ozone Depletion Ecosystem Destruction Land Fills Habitat Loss Habitat Loss Literacy Over Fishing Soil Degredation Loss of Biodiversity Transgenic Species Energy Consumption Pesticides Weedy Species Weedy Species Environmental Consciousness Conversion & Fragmentation World Food Supply World Food Supply Database Records Climate Lakes/ Rivers/ Wetlands Land Use Plants Trees Mammals Countries Pollution Mining Plant Ecosystems Forests Marsupials Cultures Ozone Oceans/ Seas/ Estuaries Minerals Timber Birds Atmosphere Topsoil Fish IceCaps/ Glaciers Energy Amphibians Invertebrates Insects Once you understand how we have broadly classified this earth information, you may wish to work on an entire subcategory, such as mammals (within animals) or you may choose to select a few specific records, such as dolphins and whales (within mammals). The amount of research you choose to do should be a reflection of your available time, and how many students or helpers may be able to participate under your direction. If you are a college professor, how much you can do may depend on how central to your curriculum performing this work might be, and, of course, how closely your own expertise matches the information requirements of the sections you choose to work on. HOW DO YOU GET STARTED? To get started, select the information you would like to update, fill out the application, and submit the form automatically to our research department. You will receive a prompt response from us via email. Often what gets selected from contributors for posting are interesting articles about upward trends or environmental heroes. These are ran as feature articles on EcoWorld. If you are interested in contributing to our databases we will work closely with you to identify what sections you can help with, then work with you to get the data into a format that can be uploaded. We look forward to hearing from you!