If you're a scientist, chances are some inspirational person or some opportunity along the course of your education got you excited about science and helped you to realize your potential. What can you do to give something back? This page is designed to give you some ideas.
Whether you have a PhD, or are a student, whether you can teach science or have skills in grant writing, film making or website development, this page lists some ways you can help. Got more ideas? Join the discussion on our blog!
Want to help provide science education opportunities to kids? Here are a couple of great organizations who are looking for scientists, teachers, mentors, web developers, legal and financial advisors, microbe collectors and more!
BioBus, New York City. Here are some of the things you can do: “BioBus volunteers help teach, develop curriculum, apply for grants, maintain the website, serve on the board, give us legal and financial advice, scrape mud out of creeks called 'The Boneyard,' make samples, give us their old computers, design brochures, spread the word about the BioBus to lands near and far, clean the head-lights, clean the tail-lights, collect veggie oil, get veggie oil dumped on them, and a thousand other often demeaning, gross, boring, but, ultimately, rewarding activities.”
Find out more on their website http://biobus.org/ or send an email to volunteer@biobus.org.
Science Club for Girls, Boston. Another great organization that relies on the contribution of talented mentors. Their volunteers are mostly female college students or professionals with an interest in mentoring girls in science, technology or math. Learn more about their volunteer opportunities here: http://www.scienceclubforgirls.org/
As Science House gets to know more organizations like the BioBus and Science Club For Girls, we’ll be listing opportunities to volunteer on this page. You can also search for volunteer opportunities in nonprofit organizations like these, through one of several volunteer databases like volunteermatch.org, servicenation.org, or the US government website serve.gov.
If you ever had an inspirational teacher, role model or mentor, you probably remember them well to this day. Perhaps you had a teacher who gave you challenging math problems that really got you thinking, or you heard a talk by an astrophysicist in elementary school who opened your eyes to the wonder of the universe. Science House will be helping to match up scientists in the New York City area, with schools looking for speakers. If you’re interested, please fill in some information about yourself here and tell us in your profile that you'd like to volunteer.
Want to help astronomers explore the universe? Or contribute to finding out how biologically important proteins are folded? Or take part in a fossil dig or a bird watching expedition? Participate in a citizen science initiative and have your effort count towards solving scientific problems and collecting data for the public benefit. Here are some examples of projects you can be involved in: galaxy zoo, protein folding, bird watching. Science House is currently helping a new organization, Science For Citizens, to build a website that brings together projects from all scientific disciplines across the globe. The beta version is coming very soon here: http://scienceforcitizens.net/
A growing number of online communities of scientists and entrepreneurs are helping to make international volunteering possible. For example, new charity Science For Humanity, seeks all types of scientists, from nanotechnologists, to engineers, material scientists to geologists, to help create solutions to a range of challenging problems in the developing world. They're building a community of scientists who have a concern for "looking beyond the confines of their laboratory to leveraging the potential of science for helping in a way one wouldn't normally associate with high end research." Find out more about what they do here.
Whether you’re a high school student looking for an interesting place to get some work experience, a science fan who wants to help out, or a specialist in a particular area, working at a museum is a great way to contribute. The American Museum of Natural History, for example, has more than 1000 volunteers, who staff the information desks, teach school children, conduct tours of the museum, and act as explainers in the fossil hall and in the earth and space exhibit area. Learn more about their volunteer opportunities here.
If you have the vision, Science House can put you in touch with people who have done just that! We can help you navigate through the process of starting a nonprofit, getting charitable 501(c)(3) status, and finding funding. If you're interested in learning more, send us an email!
Check out these websites for volunteer opportunities in your area:
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