At 9 a.m. on the pier at San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos, a family of sea lions frolics in the water, leaping playfully and entertaining both tourists and locals. Shortly, the local ferry will arrive, bringing passengers from the straightforward, two-hour journey from Santa Cruz Island.
As the ferry docks, a notable passenger steps off — Sarah Darwin, a British botanist, conservationist, author, and researcher, and the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. This marks her first return to San Cristóbal in 24 years.
Despite the long gap since her last visit, Darwin, a researcher at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, has remained engaged with research on the islands, contributing, for instance, a welcome video for the World Summit on Island Sustainability.
Sarah Darwin serves as an ambassador for the DARWIN200 project, a global voyage that retraces Charles Darwin’s journey to educate people about environmental threats and the vital conservation efforts needed to address them. Participants in the project travel on a 100-year-old refurbished three-mast schooner, echoing the style of ship that Darwin himself sailed on.
With a planned stop in the Galápagos in May 2024, Sarah Darwin seized the chance to meet the DARWIN200 crew during their visit to the islands, learning about the latest research from the Galapagos Science Center (GSC), a collaboration between UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center for Galapagos Studies and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador.
Her visit included field research, inspiring talks to the local community, and a visit to Darwin’s Cove, where her famous ancestor once landed.
Exploring Tomatoes
One of the aims of the DARWIN200 project is to connect young conservationists worldwide with research projects where they can study habitats or species that Charles Darwin investigated during his historic voyage.
USFQ researcher Pieter van ’t Hof and his team’s work exemplifies the kind of action Sarah Darwin supports. Van ’t Hof’s group collaborated with her and a DARWIN200 leader to search for both endemic and introduced tomato species, similar to the work Sarah did on the islands years ago.
“The chance to have Sarah Darwin join our fieldwork in Santa Cruz to search for these tomatoes in their natural habitats has been an invaluable experience for our research team,” van ’t Hof says. “Knowing that Charles Darwin collected Galápagos tomatoes for taxonomy 200 years ago and that Sarah sampled them for genetic analysis 20 years ago, discovering a new tomato species has added a special dimension to our 2024 expedition.”
During their fieldwork, the team collected samples to study the microbial communities around the roots and leaves of these tomatoes, which help them survive the harsh island environment.
“Science builds upon past discoveries and continuously evolves with technological advances,” van ’t Hof says. “Collaborating with Sarah highlighted the importance of our multidisciplinary scientific efforts and reminded us that curiosity and the spirit of discovery will always endure.”
Continuing Darwin’s Legacy
Sarah Darwin’s next stop was a tour of the GSC with Laboratories Manager Cristina Vintimilla, where she learned about research exploring the intersection of human activity and the environment.
Darwin was particularly interested in the Biobank project, which preserves genetic resources of existing biodiversity and offers opportunities to study various aspects of evolutionary biology, population and ecosystem health, and environmental contaminants.
USFQ researcher and professor Maria de Lourdes Torres was thrilled to reconnect with Darwin and discuss the Biobank and the many projects in the Microbiology and Genetics Lab.
“A few years ago, I met Sarah in Quito, Ecuador, and we discovered that we were both working with the endemic tomatoes of Galápagos,” de Lourdes Torres says. “It was a pleasure to meet her again and discuss the importance of conserving these species and ecosystems. Sarah was delighted to learn about our biobank initiative, and her visit strengthened our relationship for the benefit of science and education in these magical islands.”
Darwin also learned about GSC’s efforts with the local community, including numerous citizen science projects.
“Sarah’s visit was a powerful motivator for our team to continue their conservation and sustainability efforts in the Galápagos,” Vintimilla says. “During the tour, Sarah emphasized the significance of our work with the local community through citizen science, where everyone can feel involved and contribute to our research projects.”
That evening, Darwin gave an inspiring talk to over 100 guests, including researchers, DARWIN200 leaders, students, and community members. She spoke about how nature inspired and fueled Charles Darwin’s passion and how all living things are interconnected. She stressed the importance of forming local knowledge-based communities and praised GSC for its engagement with the people of San Cristóbal.
“It is crucial to listen to and learn from local people so we can work together,” Darwin says. “We need to envision a future where everyone is involved in protecting nature. I’m not suggesting we revert to nature but rather move forward with it, making decisions as communities with nature at the center.”
The talk marked the concluding event for DARWIN200 before the vintage ship set sail for Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, in the South Pacific, retracing the voyage of Charles Darwin’s vessel, the HMS Beagle. But Sarah Darwin had more experiences awaiting her in the Galápagos.
Inspiring the Next Generation
The following day, Darwin joined a local initiative connecting the community to science. She joined Chicas con Agallas, or Gills Club, on a field trip to Isla Lobos.
The Gills Club offers local girls aged 8-12 an adventurous way to learn about science, the ocean, and the island’s flora and fauna. Led by GSC researcher and Biobank Manager Diana Pazmiño, Gills Club members visit local beaches to learn about the scientific method, snorkel for the first time, identify fish, and examine samples in the GSC labs, all guided by local and international female scientists who also serve as role models.
“Having Sarah join our field trip made the experience even more memorable,” Pazmiño says. “It is extremely important for the girls to find inspiration in female scientists. Sarah kindly gifted the club a few of her Galápagos field guides — which she helped illustrate with flora and fauna — and we immediately used them to identify birds and plants on Isla Lobos.”
Visiting Darwin’s Cove
As Darwin’s eventful 36 hours in the islands came to an end, she visited Mirador Cerro Tijeretas, or Darwin’s Cove, where her great-great-grandfather first landed on San Cristóbal. Just a 15-minute walk from GSC, it’s known as a prime spot to swim and snorkel with sea lions and observe frigate birds.
“The spot is like a postcard of humans respecting and coexisting with nature,” Darwin says.
She took out her copy of “On the Origin of Species” and read a passage aloud at the cove, the birthplace of evolutionary biology.
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one,” she read. “And that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Darwin called it a truly magical moment and a reminder that all living things — even generations apart — are connected and essential to preserving our precious planet.
“And of course, there is nowhere in the world where evolution is more beautiful than the Galápagos Islands,” Darwin says.