SFI's first crowdfunding campaign ended successfully at 10 p.m. Mountain time, December 14, with SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Marcus Hamilton and his collaborators just reaching the campaign's goal of $3,000.

See the campaign page here.

Hear Hamilton's radio interview on KSFR's Santa Fe Radio Cafe (20 minutes, November 29, 2012)

Crowdfunding is an emerging, social-networked way to generate financial backing for critical scientific research. Learn about science crowdfunding here

Read the article about Hamilton's research in the Santa Fe New Mexican (November 19, 2012)

Through the six-week campaign, Hamilton and his collaborators sought contributions that will help them develop a better way to preserve the threatened landscapes on which indigenous human groups depend.

There are an estimated 100 uncontacted human groups remaining in the world today; most live in remote parts of the Amazon Basin. As deforestation, agriculture, and mining operations press in on their horizons, their forager-hunter-gatherer way of life is increasingly threatened.

In fact, with the range and magnitude of current threats, ours may be the last generation to co-exist with uncontacted, indigenous human societies. They are the silent victims of rainforest destruction, illegal mining, and encroaching modernization. For more information about the threat and the research, see Hamilton's blog at the campaign page.

Thanks from all of us at SFI for being part of this important research.