The American Museum of Natural History's
SOUTHWESTERN RESEARCH STATION
Volunteer Job Description
Volunteers at the Station divide their work activities
into two general
categories:
1) chores oriented toward the daily functioning and long-term
maintenance of the facility, and 2) research assistance
to scientists.
Volunteers work 24 hours over a 6-day work week at
maintenance chores; the
remainder of one's time is available to work with
researchers. Volunteers
are encouraged to put in an equivalent amount of time (24
hours/week) on
research activities to get the most out of their
stay here.
Station Chores and Maintenance
Volunteer assistance keeps the Station running. The three
main "chore
areas" are kitchen, housekeeping, and maintenance.
Volunteers
assist in the kitchen with food preparation, dish washing,
cleaning tables, and mopping floors. They vacuum the main house, empty
garbage, and carry out general cleaning in the main
house, office, grounds
and laboratory areas. Volunteers clean rooms vacated by departing guests,
including cleaning bathrooms, changing beds, dusting, and
mopping.
Occasional chores include washing windows and walls, and
trash removal.
Outdoors,
volunteers regularly cut grass, scrub the swimming pool, fill
hummingbird feeders, sweep walks, rake leaves, etc. Large
maintenance
projects might include shingling, painting, digging
drainage fields for
septic lines, assistance with plumbing repairs, cleaning
and waxing
vehicles, digging gardens, firewood cutting, barbed wire
fence repair, and
similar building and grounds repair and maintenance.
Volunteers
are scheduled into specific work times each week. The schedule
varies with the number of volunteers. Given that
work-time takes first
priority, the schedule is somewhat flexible to allow
maximum research time.
Discussing your research time needs with the staff ahead
of time allows
most needs to be met.
Research Activities
Research opportunities abound at the Southwestern
Research Station; the
volunteer is responsible for aggressively seeking out
those opportunities
and actively pursuing her/his individual goals in the
time available. Most
volunteers participate in research projects of
researchers based at the
Station. With approval of the Director, a volunteer may
carry out an
independent research project.
The
nature of research activities varies widely, as do the skills and
techniques to be learned. Some is glamorous; much is
arduous. A partial
list of skills that can be learned includes data
collection, computer
entry, behavioral observations, time budgets, bird-blind
observations, mist
netting and bird banding, collecting lizards or toads,
live trapping desert
rodents, excavation of bee or ant nests, paint marking
insects or lizards,
radiotelemetry, caring for native seedlings, foliage
sampling, establishing
study area grids, censusing techniques, microscope use,
habitat or
vegetation mapping, care of captive animals, plant
identification, and
more. Tasks may also include cleaning and carrying
equipment, driving to
study areas, hiking rugged trails or in desert areas,
building cages and
enclosures, etc. All activities are carried out under the
direction and
supervision of researchers or research assistants.
To
help volunteers locate promising projects, a handbook of research
projects is compiled each spring. On arrival, volunteers
can check the
research projects handbook and discuss with researchers
what their projects
entail, whether they need help, what kind of help they
need, and what their
schedule is. Most researchers are happy to share their
knowledge in
exchange for volunteer assistance.
Some
volunteers choose the "shotgun" approach: going out in the field with
many different researchers to do a survey of current
research ideas and
methodologies. Other volunteers work intensively with one
project, thus
getting an in-depth view of research. Researchers will
usually put more
time into volunteers who can commit some time to that
project, as they feel
both that the
time investment in training will pay off for their
project, and that the volunteer will get more out of the experience.
In
addition to field work, seminars by researchers are often held. These
are both a forum to share research information and an
opportunity to toss
around ideas in current biological theory. Researchers
are also a valuable
source of advice on graduate schools, and may be willing
to write letters
of recommendation if they are impressed with a
volunteer's assistance.
Qualifications
Volunteers are expected to be mature and responsible
individuals with a
keen interest in field biology and a willingness to pitch
in and help with
whatever needs doing. Enthusiasm, dependability, and appreciation for hard
work are the foremost needs. Most volunteers are
undergraduate biology
students; however, students in other fields, graduate
students, and people
out of college may also apply.
Time Commitment
Volunteers are appointed for a minimum of six weeks
between March 15 and
early November. In the spring and fall, there are fewer
researchers and
many nature tours and individual naturalists staying at
the Station; these
are particularly good times to work closely with one
researcher or on one's
own project. In the summer there are greater numbers of
researchers, and
more competition for volunteer positions. Each season has
its own special
flavor.
Additional Information
Volunteers are responsible for providing their own
transportation to and
from the Station.
If arriving by plane, bus service can be arranged to
Douglas, Arizona, where we can pick you up if you time
your arrival for a
Thursday.
International volunteers should obtain a Tourist visa.
IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS,
contact: Director
Southwestern Research Station
The American Museum of Natural History
P.O.
Box 16553
Portal, AZ 85632
Telephone/FAX: 520-558-2396
e-mail: swrs@amnh.org
VOLUNTEER APPLICATION
SOUTHWESTERN RESEARCH STATION
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
P.O. Box 16553
Portal, Arizona
85632
Phone/Fax:
520-558-2396
e-mail:
swrs@amnh.org
INSTRUCTIONS
Complete (type or print neatly) both sides of this form,
attach the
information required in items
# 2 and # 3 (reverse side), and return to the
Southwestern Research Station.
Deadline for applications: March - May positions = February 15.
June - August positions =
April 1.
September
- November positions = inquiries may be
made at any time.
Volunteer appointments will be announced shortly after
each deadline.
Name_______________________________________________________________________
Last
First
Middle Initial Soc. Sec. #
Home
address________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________Phone________________________
Mailing
Address_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________Phone_________________________
e-mail Address
_______________________________________________________________
Age
______under 18
______18-70 ______
past 70
Earliest date you can arrive______________ Latest date
you must
depart___________________
School
_______________________________________________________________________
Name and Location
________________________________________________Graduation
Date________________
List skills, hobbies, and interests
___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Because of our remote location, please describe any
physical/medical needs
you have:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Volunteer Application Page 2
Southwestern Research Station
The American Museum of Natural History
Who or what encouraged you to apply for the volunteer
program at the
Southwestern
Research Station
_______________________________________________________________
1. Submit at
least one letter of recommendation, which must be received by
the deadline date.
Applications without a letter of recommendation will
not be reviewed.
The person should be asked to comment on these aspects of
the applicant's qualifications: willingness to work with
others and accept
a wide variety of tasks; handiness with tools and other
special skills;
biological training; enthusiasm lent to tasks; maturity;
and professional
promise. Please make sure they address these points.
A letter of recommendation is attached ________ will follow __________ from:
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Submit
with this form a brief description of courses, work, projects,
or experiences in
(a) biology, and (b) other sciences.
3. Submit
with this form a brief statement of what you hope to accomplish
while at the Station, including a description of any
personal projects you
may wish to pursue.
4.
Applicants may attach other information that might be useful to the
Director in reviewing the application, including career
goals and interest
in pursuing graduate education.
Statement
attached: Yes_______ No_______
If I agree to accept a volunteer appointment at the
Southwestern Research
Station, I will work for 24 hours a week on assigned work
chores, including
kitchen, grounds, and cabin clean-up, in exchange for
room and board. The
balance of my time is available to work with scientists
on research
projects in the field or laboratory, or to personal
scientific projects
approved by the Director. I will provide my own
transportation to and from
the Southwestern Research Station.
Signature______________________________________________________________________
Applicant Date
As parent or guardian (if applicant is under legal age),
I grant permission
for the applicant to apply for volunteer work at the
Southwestern Research
Station under the conditions described on this form.
Signature______________________________________________________________________
Parent or Guardian Date
2001