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There are five categories of volunteer opportunities described below:
Scroll down for detailed descriptions. Please contact the Reserve , 360-428-1070 for more information.
Education Program Volunteer Opportunities
There are five different volunteer jobs in the Education Program. If you are interested in this kind of work please contact the Reserve.
1. Program Assistant
This job involves helping with school groups participating in the full-day program. These are usually Tuesday through Friday 9:30 to 2:30. The volunteer typically helps set up and put away equipment and live displays. They also interact with groups of students as they guide themselves exploring the beach and indoor exhibits.
2. Traveling Exhibit
This job involves staffing our traveling exhibit at festivals and fairs. The volunteer helps set up and take down the display including live animals. They also interact with the public describing Reserve programs and plants and animals
3. Bird Expert
During the winter (January through March) we sometimes get large numbers of visitors interested in birding. The skills of these visitors vary widely from those looking for eagles to those looking for a Terek Sandpiper. We seek volunteers with birding expertise to sit at our reception desk, greet people as they come in, answer questions and educate them about local birding.
4. Heron Cam Observer
We have a video camera set up in a heron colony across the bay and live images are available to visitors in our exhibits. We need volunteers to
observe heron behavior, capture video images of herons at all different stages of breeding and development and to explain the project to visitors.
5. Front Office Coverage
To be able to keep offering education programs on Saturdays,
we sometimes need someone to sit at the front desk to greet visitors and answer the phone. It can be boring if there aren't many visitors so bring a book or craft. Volunteers are typically needed for about 2 to 5 hours on a Saturday.
Controlling and Monitoring Invasive Organisms
- We started removing invasive blackberries from our 64-acre upland site in 2007. You can help us with this spiny task.
- Here is an easy one. We need help controlling weeds as new native plants gain in strength around our buildings and in the upland.
- Get your feet muddy to monitor for European green crab. This requires a firm commitment on specific days throughout the summer.
Aquarium Assistants
Volunteers help Mark Olson, Aquarist, with daily life support system operations; feeding, care and observation of fish and invertebrates, aquarium cleaning and maintenance, water quality testing, and educational interpretation of northwest marine life for visitors.
Prior experience and knowledge of aquarium life support systems and local marine life are beneficial but not necessary, and training is provided.
We are open to the public starting at 10 a.m. so the best time to work on the aquariums is between 8:30 and 10 a.m. Interpretive assistance and some maintenance tasks may be performed while the aquariums are open to the public between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Stream Team Volunteer Opportunities
Education/Training
All Stream Team Volunteers have the opportunity to learn new skills, gain new insights, network with local experts, meet new friends, and participate in a worthwhile community program. Stream Team Volunteers are supplied with a manual, equipment, supplies, and FREE TRAINING.
Stream Team Field Monitors
The field volunteers are responsible for collecting and recording water quality data at assigned stream reaches on a monthly basis. Please note that this position may require walking on rocky, steep, and/or uneven terrain.
Stream Team Lab Managers
Those who prefer dry feet are trained to conduct fecal coliform and turbidity tests at the Padilla Bay Research Reserve lab facility.
Data Managers
The data manager provides support by entering monitoring data in a spreadsheet and generating graphs and charts for an annual monitoring report.
Select Skagit Stream Team to learn more about this program.
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