Inspired by the Blue-Footed Boobies to Contribute to the Conservation of Galapagos

After three years of incredibly successful fundraising efforts to contribute to the scientific research and conservation of the blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos, Will Gladstone was finally able to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station and learn about research and conservation work first-hand.

On June 13th, the Charles Darwin Foundation team welcomed a group of students from the Fessenden School in Massachusetts that was visiting the Galapagos Islands as part of their Ecuador expedition. We were looking forward to meet the famous fourteen-year-old who, together with his brother, has been passionately supporting our research!

The idea for the Blue Feet Foundation was born after Will learned about this iconic and Galapagos native species and the threats that it is facing from his 5th grade teacher, Mr. Banister. Together with his brother Matty, Will began selling socks that match the color of the blue-footed booby’s feet and have a special design!

Since the beginning of this innovative initiative three years ago, all the profits, which sum up to over $80,000, have been donated to the Galapagos Conservancy and the Charles Darwin Foundation to contribute to the scientific research and conservation of the blue-footed boobies and the Galapagos Islands in general. What is more since 2019, the socks are made in Ecuador, contributing to the local economy!

The group visited our vertebrate natural history collections and the herbarium, as well as the Marine World exhibit to learn about various shark species in the Galapagos and the outreach work that the Charles Darwin Foundation carries out.

Most excitingly, the visit was joined by David Anchundia, our landbird investigator who conducted his master’s thesis research on blue-footed boobies, in collaboration with Dr. David Anderson from the Wake Forest University. He was thrilled to be able to share his knowledge of this species with the passionate group of students, particularly Will. David later commented:

“Thanks to the funds raised by Will and Matty, we were able to collect more data on blue-footed boobies during 2017 and 2018. During these expeditions we also collected data from the Galapagos martin, an endemic bird to the Galapagos.”

The Charles Darwin Foundation is incredibly grateful for the generous support provided by Will and Matty Gladstone through the Blue Feet Foundation! To purchase the socks please visit their website: bluefeetfoundation.com. All the proceeds will be donated to the Charles Darwin Foundation.