Volunteer

A big part of Nurtured by Nature’s mission is to help train animal caretakers of the future. Our volunteers and interns learn valuable skills that are hard to obtain at other facilities. These skills often help them obtain the knowledge for entry level positions, as well as some advanced training in methods and techniques used in upper level positions, in the animal care field. We also have opportunities for those people who were not interested in pursuing a career in the animal care field but have a genuine commitment and love of nature and wildlife.

Because our volunteers and interns are so important to our husbandry program, and work hands on and effect the wellbeing of the animals in our care, we have come up with the below listed qualifications/requirements. We receive significantly more volunteer/intern applications than we have spots, so the list also helps determine who we are able to invite to join our program.

Requirements/commitments

• Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and have reliable transportation.
• You must fill out the volunteer application completely and we will contact you if a space becomes available and we would like to schedule an interview.
• You will be working outside in all kinds of weather (rain or shine).
• Volunteers/interns are required to work their way up through the different animals before they have the opportunity to work with otters. We also do not guarantee that all volunteers make it to that level of animal care. Nurtured by Nature/Animal Educators management and volunteers need to both be comfortable with a volunteer’s ability to safely care for the otters (or other higher level animals) before being allowed to work with them.
• We are a small organization and would require waivers and acknowledgements to be signed by volunteers/interns indicating your agreement and understanding that we are unable to provide medical or workman’s compensation insurance, and that volunteers/interns need to provide their own medical coverage.
• You are expected to commit to at least one year of volunteer/interning, which would include one scheduled day per week for approximately 4 hours on that day.
• We realize people have lives outside of NbN, so we try to be flexible, but schedule changes and absences must be prearranged and pre-approved. Please keep in mind that animals do not take weekends or holidays off.
• Because we are well respected in the zoological industry and many of our volunteers/interns ultimately end up being hired into related industry positions, we take letters of recommendation very seriously. To receive letters of recommendation you must meet the minimum one-year requirement and have proven your abilities in the areas trained and worked at Nurtured by Nature/Animal Educators.

PLEASE NOTE: We have a Volunteer Waiting List and will contact qualified applicants if a spot becomes available. Incomplete applications will not be considered, so make sure you fill in all the blanks.