Being an Academy Volunteer

The mission of the Academy Volunteer Program is to directly support the Academy’s mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. This is our call to action! Volunteers accomplish this by:

• Leading informal and interactive educational engagements with Academy guests that inspire curiosity, learning, and action based on scientific knowledge. Utilizing conversation and hands-on experiences guests discover the wonder of science and nature, using authentic scientific information consistent with Academy main messages and goals.
• Assisting with educational programs by facilitating conversation and hands-on experiences that connect students K-12 with science concepts and the natural world.
• Orienting guests to maximize their enjoyment and engagement with Academy exhibits and mission.
• Supporting learning and biodiversity science through work with Academy scientists and collections
• Assisting the Academy in maintaining live exhibits, and caring for the plants and animals that call the Academy home. This volunteer service is crucial in building stronger connections between guests and the natural world.
• Supporting many departments/areas around the Academy, such as Philanthropy and Horticulture, in achieving Academy goals.

The California Academy of Sciences is a research institution and natural history museum in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. We respectfully acknowledge that the California Academy of Sciences resides on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush (rah-my-toosh) Ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. As the original peoples of this land, the Ramaytush Ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as caretakers of this place. As guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland, and wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders, and Relatives of the Ramaytush Community and affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples.

Adapted from the Land Acknowledgment statement adopted by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. The Academy is actively working on developing an institution wide, public acknowledgment.