If you like people, helping others, educating kids, working in a library, designing artwork, wood working, puppet shows, gardening,
birding, fishing, trail walks, public events, wildlife and nature, working in the outdoors, computer data entry, photography, operating a boat,
working on engines, then Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge needs YOU! Volunteering can be fun, satisfying, and a way of meeting new
friends with similar interests. No matter what activity you want to help with, information and/or training will be provided.
We especially need volunteers who will help with staffing the information desk, Friends of Blackwater Eagle's Nest Bookstore,
our new research library, and environmental education programs. The main requisite to being a volunteer at the information desk
is to enjoy meeting and talking with people, be willing to assist visitors, and know how to smile! The Visitor Center is open
every day except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Volunteers staffing the Visitor Center will normally work an 8:00am to
12:00pm or a 12:00pm to 4:00pm shift during the weekdays; but we especially need weekend volunteers who would work a 9:00am to
1:00pm or 1:00pm to 5:00pm shift on weekends. You can work as many shifts as you want from one 4 hour shift to all day, once
a month, once a week, or more often. We are aiming for two people for every shift. Volunteers have fun assisting people from all
over the world while learning firsthand about Blackwater's numerous and fascinating wildlife. If you are interested in wildlife,
like people, and enjoy learning as well as helping to educate other people about wildlife and Dorchester County, this is the job for you!!
The research library is presently open by appointment only until we have more volunteers to staff the library at least once or twice a
week. You can enjoy the many birding and natural history books while helping others who come to use them as well. We are aiming to be open
every Wednesday afternoons 12:00pm - 4:00pm. You would not have to staff it every week, but once or twice a month if possible. Later on,
we would also like to provide staff for Saturday mornings 9:00am - 1:00pm.
Our education programs are presently developed for getting our 4th and 6th grade Dorchester County students out into nature.
The programs are led by teachers with help from volunteers. All volunteers will be trained at an educational workshop to assist
the teachers. The 4th grade programs are 6 days in October while the 6th grade will be scheduled for 4 days in the spring. Again
you will not have to be there every day, but only as often as you can be available.
Other types of activities the Refuge needs help with include: painting, fence building, sign posting, constructing display shelves,
mowing grass, trail maintenance, janitorial cleaning, invasive species mapping, surveys (frog, shore bird, breeding bird, and blue bird box),
plant identification, planting trees and marsh grass, bird box and osprey platform repair, filing and answering phones, computer data base
entry, trail walks, staffing table top exhibit at off-site events, doing puppet shows (no talking involved), taking photos, picking up
litter, and giving guided bus tours and Visitor Center tours. Training will be provided when necessary, but some of these positions
require some background knowledge of the subject.
If you are interested in volunteering, please call Tom Miller at 410-228-2677 or email to find out more about the positions and the volunteer
training.
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