Volunteers are essential members of the Environmental Studies Team.  We are always looking for individuals from the community who want to join us in making a difference.

Opportunities to donate your valuable time and effort are many and varied, ranging from fieldwork and field station maintenance projects, to office assistance and professional services. 

Whether you have just a little time or a lot, whether you want to get down and dirty or stay clean and help in the office, we'll have a place for you!  

In the Field

Want to see nature first hand?  Volunteer to assist with outdoor field work!  It’s a mix of periodic, seasonal, and year-round programs; most with an emphasis on observation.  We need help with weekend care of the swans located at Airlie; plant surveys during the growing season and wildlife observations at monitoring stations year round; nest and nest box checking in spring and early summer; counting butterflies, dragonflies and observing the resident geese. We also need volunteers on tap for short notice assistance at goose and swan catches; to help us with small field projects for the educational program, such as water quality monitoring; and to act as docents, assisting field trips and tours.

In the Office

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea to slog around doing field work or assist outdoors in all weathers. We need just as much help indoors, putting mailings together, making signs, doing errands for events, posting flyers, entering data on the computer, cataloging our extensive books and periodicals, researching past records and designing databases. These jobs are usually the most time flexible and can be worked in around your schedule.

Maintenance

Sometimes we just need plain old-fashioned help to clear trails, put up fence, mow or join an invasive plant removal party.  Other times we need skilled volunteers to help operate machinery or repair facilities. 

Special Services

We also rely heavily on the generosity of professionals who can donate services or provide them at cost. This allows us to do projects that would otherwise not be possible, because of the high cost of professional fees.

Who Can Volunteer?

There are no particular skill qualifications required to volunteer for ESA.  We have a short application and interview process.  We need people who are enthusiastic and reliable, have "stick-to-it-iveness" and who don’t mind working solo.  Generally, ESA volunteers are adults, but we do consider minors with parental permission.

Contact Us:  If you have questions about our Volunteer Program, please contact Caryl, at 540-349-3331 or cbuck@envstudies.org.