Get Involved at the Audubon Center at Debs Park

Photo: Mike Fernandez/Audubon

Looking to take your love of birds to the next level?

The Audubon Center at Debs Park is a vibrant and welcoming hub that is a community-driven environmental initiative, offering educational programs, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy efforts aimed at protecting local wildlife and green spaces. We offer many ways for individuals to get involved!

Check Volunteer Events

Volunteer with Us!

The most generous gift to the Audubon Center at Debs Park is your time. From getting your hands dirty to counting Western Monarch Butterflies, all ages can contribute to the Center's mission in building a connection between nature and the local community. It is a great way to connect with, learn about, and advocate for birds and the natural world around us.

The center offers volunteer opportunities in forms of both drop-in opportunities and long-term positions. Volunteers can engage in habitat restoration projects, community science initiatives, educational outreach, and community events. These efforts aim to create bird-friendly environments and foster a strong sense of community involvement in being environmental stewards for the future.

Volunteers truly do play a key role in carrying out the mission of the center and helping it reach its full potential. Our work would not be possible without our volunteers!

Please Note!

All volunteers must sign a waiver onsite to participate in our events. Volunteers below the age of 14 will need their guardian to sign their waivers.

Drop-in Volunteers

Habitat restoration volunteers help us maintain our restoration sites, doing work such as weeding, creating berms, and watering the plants. During planting season (December to March), habitat restoration volunteers will also assist in planting California native plants at our developing sites. In turn, volunteers will learn about California native plants, how to identify weeds, and how to care for native plants.

The minimum age for habitat restoration volunteers is 14 and above, but any volunteer below the age of 18 will need their guardian to sign their onsite waiver. Volunteers below the age of 14 can participate if their guardian is present.

RSVPs are appreciated, but not required for habitat restoration volunteer events as drop-ins are allowed.

Community science volunteers help us collect data for numerous community science initiatives such as NestBoxes and Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. There are also opportunities to assist with BioBlitz events. Volunteers will be trained by staff to assist in the data collection.

The minimum age for community science volunteers depends on the type of event, but generally we recommend that volunteers below the age of 14 are accompanied by their guardian.

RSVPs are appreciated, but not required for community science volunteer events as drop-ins are allowed.

Community event volunteers are not pure 'drop-ins', as you must contact the Public Programs Manager ahead of the event to volunteer. This position entails duties such as delivering educational activities, leading bird walks, and the like.

If you would like to be a lead or table at one of our community events, please contact us via our Contact Us form to express your interest.

The minimum age for community event volunteers is 18.

Long-Term Volunteers

Long-term volunteering is a great way to gain deeper professional experience, get to know the seasonal changes of our plant and wildlife neighbors in Debs Park, and strengthen your relationship with the local community.

All long-term volunteers receive additional training from center staff in areas like native plant maintenance, habitat restoration practices, conservation science, environmental education, or facilities maintenance depending on the position.

Each position requires a commitment of at least six hours per month in 3-hour shifts for a minimum of six months, but specific positions may have increased commitment requirements. Recruitment for these positions changes throughout the year depending on the fluctuating needs at the center.

Current Open Long-Term Volunteer Positions

Under the supervision of the Marking Monarchs Lead, Marking Monarchs Assistants will examine milkweed plants to count monarch caterpillars and eggs as part of the larger Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) community science project throughout North America. Volunteers must be comfortable with very mild hiking and squatting and/or sitting on the ground to examine plants outdoors

The Audubon Center at Debs Park is in need of volunteers to support special events throughout the year. This includes seasonal festivals, summer Community Movie Nights, fundraising events, or other partner events. If you have volunteered with the Center before and enjoyed it, and if you’re interested in helping to make events at the Center a success, this is the position for you! Work could include facilitating a craft table, running an activity station, staffing a check-in table, or helping to set up/break down equipment.

Please note: this position does not require two 3-hour shifts per month; instead, we ask that you volunteer for at least 3 special events throughout the year as you are able.

Interested in Getting Involved?

Whether you're looking to be a drop-in volunteer or a prospective long-term volunteer, come check out our event calendar to see when the next volunteer event will be!

Check Our Events!