Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you for your interest in joining the River Otter Ecology Project volunteer team! We’re committed to Community Science for many reasons, not least as a vehicle for encouraging action every one of us can take to support a healthier planet. Many of our volunteers tell us their work with the otters and watersheds is transformative for them. You can read a few of their accounts here. There are also several volunteer blog posts recounting various experiences in the field. Volunteers perform a wide variety of tasks and you can choose to dabble in all or specialize in one or two. Please review our volunteer positions below to familiarize yourself with the available options.
Volunteer Opportunities:
- New! Become a Board member. You can find more information and the application here.
- Become an Otter Ambassador – head out to areas where otters are often seen with brochures and education for the public! People love to hear about otters while they’re watching them, and we love to see their eyes light up.
- Servicing a field camera in our focal research area in Marin
- Representing River Otter Ecology Project at environmental events
- Occasional computer work using Excel spreadsheets that can be done at home
- Helping at events or outings
- Internships, high school and college, summer and during the academic year. If you’re interested in an internship, please see our Internships page for more information, as well as how to apply.
Volunteer Requirements: River Otter Ecology Project provides all supplies and training necessary. Because the Field Work positions require training and skills, we prefer field volunteers who are able to commit to a two-year term with us. Of course we understand if you find it’s not for you, but that doesn’t happen often!
FIELD WORK MAY INCLUDE:
- Scouting for otter sign and tracks along waterways in Marin County
- Using a smart phone based app to collect coordinates of otter latrine sites, wallows, dens and migration corridors
- Servicing one or more trail cameras once a week to once every three weeks, June through November
- Filling out and submitting data forms electronically within a week of the field day
- Collecting and delivering otter fecal samples to ROEP
- Attending two or more field training days per year
- Field positions are in Marin County, California and field work often includes long hikes
- We ask each field volunteer to work at one environmental tabling event per year
FILL OUT AN APPLICATION:
If you’d like to become a volunteer, fill out and submit the Volunteer Application and Agreement on the second tab of this page
Volunteer Agreement
Please download and print the Volunteer Policy Agreement and sign it at your first training class.
Volunteer Application
The River Otter Ecology Project is a registered 501 (c)(3) EIN #45-4997526 non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of river otters and our watershed. Our organization is not affiliated with any other otter-related research group or community outreach organization.
© 2022 River Otter Ecology Project