Thank you for your interest in the volunteer program.
Our volunteers have diverse backgrounds with different skills and interests. Volunteers provide critical support for the visitor experience, whether it be welcoming guests, engaging visitors with hands-on activities, or participating in HMSC festivals and programs.
Please note, HMSC volunteers do not work with collections or behind-the-scenes with the research museums.
Of course! We offer multiple training sessions for our museum gallery content-focused positions, but we also have other roles that do not require content knowledge.
Unfortunately, there are no positions that work with the collections department. Please contact individual research museums for those opportunities.
These opportunities are for people who want to volunteer on occasion to promote HMSC special events on weekends and evenings. Training is specific to the role. At HMSC family festivals such as I ♥ Science, HMSC Summer Solstice, and Day of the Dead, Festival Facilitators engage visitors with hands-on educational and craft activities. At HMSC fall and spring events such as lectures and author talks, Event Ambassadors welcome guests, provide directional assistance, and staff the HMSC information table. Training is offered twice a year.
This opportunity is for people to welcome visitors to the Glass Flowers exhibit, answer questions, anticipate and prevent precarious situations, and encourage the visitors to explore the gallery. Glass Flowers Greeters select a morning or afternoon shift on a weekday or weekend. Training is offered twice a year, and experienced Greeters may train to become Glass Flowers tour leaders.
This opportunity is for people to engage visitors in a conversational way in the museum exhibits, often through facilitating hands-on activities at discovery carts. Multiple-session training courses are offered twice a year. Gallery Activity Facilitators select a regular morning or afternoon shift on a weekday or weekend.
This opportunity is for people who love to share children’s storybooks with the youngest visitors and their families on weekend mornings at 11:00 am and afternoons at 2:00 pm. After reading, HMSC Story Time Program Readers guide families to visit related specimens in the galleries. Training is offered individually and in small group workshops. Readers may sign up for one or more story readings per month.
This opportunity is for people who like to draw to encourage visitors of all ages to look more closely at exhibits by modeling and inviting visitors to draw in the galleries. Sketching Facilitators select a morning or afternoon shift on a weekday or weekend. No artistic training or skill is required; training is offered individually.
The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture is committed to an inclusive museum experience and invites everyone to participate in programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation to participate as a volunteer, please contact us at carolcarlson@hmsc.harvard.edu.
