Home > Get Involved > Volunteer

"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it."
- William James

Volunteer your unique talents and skills!

We welcome your help in many areas of the Association and your community.

• At the Office keep our workplace running smoothly.
• At the Nature Center care for our critters; help us run our shop or office.
• On the Nature Reserve maintain our fields, woods, and trails.
• Around the Watershed monitor, preserve, and restore the stream corridors.
• In Your Community inform the public.

To Volunteer:
Complete our volunteer form and send or drop it off at the Johnson Environmental Center or Buttinger Nature Center, 31 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534.

You may also call or send an email about a specific volunteer opportunity to the contact listed in each section below.

At the Office, help us keep our workplace running smoothly.

• Reception: Answer telephones or help orient visitors. Contact our Office Manager.



• Mail Assistance: Copy, folder and stuff envelopes or address, stamp and seal bulk mailings. Contact our Communications Manager.



• Database Entry: Collate information, do research, or type lists used by staff. Contact our Systems Administrator.



• Computer Assistance: Load software, upgrade hardware, or assist with helpdesk requests. Contact our Systems Administrator.



• Electronic File Conversion: Translate files from older software applications. Contact our Systems Administrator.



• Website Maintainance: Add new announcements and information. Contact our Systems Administrator.



• Graphics and Layout: Help create and polish incidental communications materials such as posters, handouts, postcards and announcements. Contact our Communications Manager.



• Photography: Take pictures and organize our photo archives. Contact our Communications Manager.



• Displays: Create attractive portable displays for community events and for our kiosks. Contact our Communications Manager.



• Event Preparation: Help get ready for workshops or festivals like Butterfly Day or assist with the event itself. Contact our Office Manager.

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At the Buttinger Nature Center, we have volunteer opportunities on a short-term, occasional basis as well as long-term volunteer assistance needs and support roles. We prefer adults (18+) for all volunteer positions listed, unless an exception is noted.

Short-Term/Seasonal/On-call Opportunities

• Associate Naturalist: Individuals knowledgeable about local natural history, trails, bugs, bats, birds or similar subjects who can lead a program about their expertise during the year for Nature Center goers. Contact our Environmental Education Director.



• College Internship: Design a project addressing our organizational and programmatic goals of conservation, natural history education or related subjects. The internship requires between 10-15 hours per week during a semester. Contact our Environmental Education Director.



• Butterfly House Gardener (May to September): Weed and plant in and around the Butterfly House as well as perform natural pest maintenance. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• Butterfly House Naturalist (June to August): Lead Butterfly House tours. Saturdays especially needed. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• Butterfly House Stocker (May to September, Age 12+): Catch specific butterfly species in field and release in our Butterfly House. Transfer emergent butterflies from Nature Center nursery to Butterfly House. Assist with Monarch tagging and release in September. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• Birthday Party Presenter: Conduct thematic nature hikes using a prepared cirriculum on Saturday for private chirldren's parties. Maximum of 2 parties per Saturday. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalist.



• Graphic Artist: Create event flyers, handouts and press releases for Nature Center presentations and activities. Contact our Nature Center Manager.



• Delivery Person: Deliver printed materials to schools, libraries, businesses, etc. Must have current driver’s license and own car. Contact our Nature Center Manager.

Long-Term/Regular-Interval Opportunities

• Nature Center Docent (Weekdays or Saturdays): Monitor the Buttinger Nature Center's front desk and assist visitors purchasing gifts. Perform confirmation phone calls to public programming registrants. Answer phones and direct calls to Nature Center staff. Minimum commitment of 1 day per week or 1 Saturday per month. Contact our Nature Center Manager.



• Critter Care Assistant (Age 12+): Help take care of the small animals who comprise our Nature Center collection. Our turtles, fish, and snakes need clean cages and plentiful food. This weekly job includes feeding, watering and tank cleaning. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• Nature Shop Retail/Merchandise Assistant: Create seasonal shop displays. Perform shop inventory, item pricing, and LibraryThing book inventory website entry. Contact our Nature Center Manager.



• Preschool and School Age Programs Assistant (Age 14+): Prepare weekly handout and craft materials. Check in participants at the Nature Center's front desk. Chaperone program participants and assistance to our Teacher/Naturalists during programs. Assist with post-program clean up. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• Teacher-Naturalist Associate: Assist with visiting school programs on our Reserve. Lead activities. Trailside management of students. Contact our Nature Center Manager.



• Wildlife Habitat Assistant (Age 14+): Post weekly wildlife sightings of interest to visitors on Nature Center information board. Clean out and store bird boxes at the end of nesting season and mount again at the beginning of the next season. Check wildlife information boards on the Reserve and along trails. Contact one of our Teacher/Naturalists.



• English-to-Spanish Translator: Translate printed materials including summer camp forms, event flyers, and take-home information sheets into Spanish. Contact our Nature Center Manager.

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On the Nature Reserve, help us maintain our fields, woods, and trails. Our grounds are home to a variety of wild inhabitants, and a host to thousands of visitors seeking natural beauty. As a volunteer, you can assist us in many ways.

• In the woods, fields, and trails: Help us clear brush or invasive species.



• Around our buildings: Assist us with carpentry, painting, snow removal, landscaping, lawn mowing and other incidental jobs.

Your efforts will help visitors enjoy their time here, and will contribute to the welfare of the wildlife inhabitants. To volunteer, please contact our Property Director.

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Around the Watershed, help us monitor, preserve, and restore the stream corridors.

• Water Monitoring: Our water monitoring programs train volunteers to conduct simple yet extremely useful tests of local waterways at various targeted points within the watershed. The results of these tests are managed on a computer database and are published in seasonal progress reports shared with the Department of Environmental Protection, municipal authorities and interested citizens. Volunteers receive in-depth field training and attend workshops. To learn more, see our StreamWatch program.



• Reforestation and River Bank Restoration: Thousands of volunteers have gotten their hands dirty and feet wet to restore over 3400 linear feet of eroded stream banks and have planted over 7000 trees since 1997. We work on a new area in the Watershed each fall and spring. For information about the schedule and location of our next project, see our Restoration program.

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In your community, help us inform the public.

• Community Events: Represent the Association in your community or another community at various events throughout the year. These community events are typically weekends in the fall and spring. To volunteer, contact our Communications Manager



• Media Distribution: Distribute newsletters and other materials to public libraries and other community locations. To help, please contact our Communication Manager



• Advocate: Support your local environmental commission and ordinances for promoting sustainable environmental balance and liveable communities. To find out how you can help, please contact our WatershedWatch Coordinator.

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High school and college students may count all volunteer activities
toward their community service graduation requirement.