Alcoa Employees Join Expedition to Brazil and China as Earthwatch Fellows

Alcoa Foundation announced today thatit will sponsor25
employees from the Company′s operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada,
China, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Spain, Suriname and the United
States on Earthwatch Institute expeditions to Brazil and China. The
employees, who volunteered to become Earthwatch Fellows, will venture to
Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Paraná State, Brazil, and the
Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, China, to
become sustainability leaders. This is Alcoa Foundation′s ninth year
supporting Earthwatch expeditions.

The Alcoa Earthwatch Fellows will work alongside professional scientists
to collect data that contributes to a global sustainable forestry
research project. They will tag and identify trees, measure their
diameters, and gather, classify and identify leaf samples. Fellows will
also participate in sessions to learn how critical environmental issues
relate to their lives and Alcoa′s approach to sustainability.

'As a mining, manufacturing and innovation company, environmental
sustainability is a priority at Alcoa,? said Paula Davis, President,
Alcoa Foundation. 'The Earthwatch Institute fellowship is an investment
in helping our employees become environmental stewards and ambassadors.
This experience will prepare them to advocate for and create more
environmentally sustainable business practices and innovations where
they work and live.?

Alcoa Foundation is sponsoring three employee teams: two will go to
Brazil and one will go to China. The expeditions will be facilitated in
English, Mandarin and Portuguese. The expeditions run from July 31 until
September 23.

Follow the Alcoa Fellows Earthwatch Blog

Follow the 2011 Fellows through a blog on www.alcoa.com/earthwatch,
where they will post videos, photos and stories about their experiences.
The Fellows will also create a sustainability plan to share their
knowledge and experiences from the field with their Alcoa colleagues and
their local communities upon their return.

Since 2003, 119 Alcoa employees have served as Earthwatch Fellows and
have ventured into the wilderness, forests and jungles all over the
world to study climate change, water issues and sustainability. They′ve
contributed almost 9,000 research hours to solving some of the biggest
sustainability challenges of our time.

The Earthwatch Institute fellowship builds on US $7 million in
environmentally focused grants that Alcoa Foundation announced earlier
this year. Since 2008, Alcoa has invested US $23 million in
environmental nonprofit organizations such as World Wildlife Fund, World
Resources Institute, Conservation International, Global ReLeaf and The
Nature Conservancy.

About Alcoa Foundation

Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the
U.S., with assets of approximately US$436 million. Founded more than 50
years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$530 million since
1952. In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed nearly US$20 million to
nonprofit organizations throughout the world, focusing on promoting
environmental stewardship, enabling economic and social sustainability,
and preparing tomorrow′s leaders through education and learning. The
work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa′s thousands of
employee volunteers, who in 2010 gave more than 720,000 service
hours.  Through the company′s signature Month of Service (October)
program, Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make
a difference in our communities. In 2010, a record 49 percent of Alcoans
took part in nearly 1,000 Month of Service events across 24 countries,
reaching 59,000 children, serving 17,000 meals, planting 16,000 trees
and supporting 3,000 nonprofit organizations. For more information about
Alcoa Foundation, please visit www.alcoa.com/foundation.

About Earthwatch Institute

Founded in 1971, Earthwatch is an international environmental
organization whose mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific
field research and education to promote the understanding and action
necessary for a sustainable environment. Our vision is a world in which
we live within our means and in balance with nature. Earthwatch
currently supports 61 environmental research projects in 29 countries by
providing funds and paying volunteers who work alongside leading field
scientists and researchers. In the past 40 years, Earthwatch volunteers
have contributed over 10 million hours to essential fieldwork. For more
information about Earthwatch, please visit www.earthwatch.org.

Alcoa

Nacema Blake, 212-836-2825

Nacema.blake@alcoa.com