Ever wonder how scientists reconstruct the past? Like to learn by doing instead of just watching from the sidelines? Want to get involved in your community? Step behind the scenes and join the Dinosaur Park team as a volunteer! Volunteers at the Eccles Dinosaur Park serve their community while learning in-depth about geology, paleontology, and science education. The volunteer program includes several different specializations:

 

          Docents—A docent helps museum guests by giving them information about the specimens they came to see. If you want to learn more about                    paleontology and the fossils it studies, this is by far the best way to do it. Volunteer docents help conduct tours, create materials for educational                programs, help guests with crafts and experiments in the science education center, and more. Skills and talents that can help docent work include            a scientific mindset and a sound knowledge of science fundamentals, a good working understanding of speech arts, a little bit of acting ability,                  and a willingness to learn, to name a few. Docents must be at least 13 years of age.

          Community Service—Looking for something less specialized or intense than docent work? The Park always has projects that anyone can help with:            grounds maintenance, craft projects, or special events, for example. This style of volunteer service works well for groups, temporary projects, and              hours for homework, court order, or scout projects.

 

          Special Projects—If you have special skills you want to put to work, we may have a project that could use them. This kind of volunteer work may be            a bit sporadic, with most projects available during the winter season, but it can also be done from home in many cases. The Park is currently                        looking for help in the following areas:

                    Woodworking—projects may include building cabinets for displaying fossils, storage shelves, repairs, and repurposing old items.

                    Interpreters—this may include written translation work or speech translation. Arrangements for live interpretation would be set by                                        appointment ahead of time. Spanish and ASL needs occur most frequently, but other languages may present opportunities as well.

                    Sewing—some projects may require skill in working with fabric.

                    Visual Arts—the Park can always use good media related to prehistoric life. Drawing, painting, sculpture, film, and GIFs are just a few                                    examples. If you would like to contribute in this way, please send a portfolio of your work to jeff@dinosaurpark.org.