Volunteer at the Museum

Volunteers in the Docent position will be able to sign up for a variety of assignments throughout the Museum to enhance the guest experience by providing overall support and information. These assignments include gallery ticket scanning and greeting assignments, Information Desk and wayfinding assignments as well as some special event and adult program support assignments. Docents are trained and knowledgeable about overall Museum happenings and the specifics required for the assignment. Docents will be supported and directly supervised by Volunteer Engagement Department staff unless otherwise specified. Shifts are available seven days a week and Friday evenings. Volunteers must volunteer for 12 shifts per year to remain on active status. Volunteers start with the Docent position and after six shifts they are eligible to participate in a facilitation review to possibly qualify as a facilitator. 

Volunteers in the Facilitator position will be able to sign up for assignments that focus on facilitating content-based discovery and exploration interactions with Museum guests. These assignments include all Exploration Station assignments (aka carts) and any assignment that requires content-based training like the Navigator assignment. Facilitators are first and foremost, fantastic Docents, displaying an overall understanding of Museum-wide happenings and exemplary customer service. All Facilitators are required to be trained and able to facilitate Museum-wide high-priority Facilitation assignments.
 
To be eligible for a Facilitator position, volunteers are required to complete six docent shifts to participate in a Facilitator Review Shift. During this shift, volunteers who are interested in facilitating will come to the Museum prepared to facilitate the Exploration Station of their choosing. Team Members will observe facilitation interactions and provide input on whether a volunteer is ready to start registering for Facilitation assignments upon completion of content-specific training. 

The Department of Earth Sciences at DMNS hosts a rigorous field paleontology program that supports national and international curatorial research. Volumetrically, dinosaurs comprise over 80% of the fossils collected and prepared in the Earth Sciences Preparation Labs; however, fish, crocodylians, turtles, mammals, and paleobotanical specimens make up over 90% of the diversity of fossils in our labs. We oversee three preparation labs; two behind-the-scenes and one visible to Museum guests as part of the permanent Prehistoric Journey exhibit. Each of the labs specializes in specific preparation activities, including: mechanical preparation, micro-preparation, molding and casting, air abrasion, archival cradle construction, preparation of exceptionally large vertebrate fossils, and rock billet cutting and embedding.

The Micro-Vertebrate Fossil Finder position will work on a variety of vertebrate fossils collected from Paleocene (65.5 million years old) rock deposits from the Denver Basin and surrounding areas. This work includes meticulous sorting through fossil-rich sediments that contain the entire spectrum of vertebrate life from the first million years after the dinosaur extinction. Larger fossils from this same time period and field area are on display in the “After the Asteroid” exhibit at DMNS.

Preferred Skills

• Fine motor skills
• Excellent hand-eye coordination
• Ability to sit at a microscope for a long duration of time
• Attention to small-scale details
• Ability to follow instructions and to ask for clarification/instructions whenever necessary
• Patience, precision, and dexterity
• Past experience working under a microscope is a plus but not required

Staff Supervisors

• Natalie Toth, Chief Fossil Preparator
• Salvador Bastien, Fossil Preparator
• Sadie Sherman, K-Pg Project Fossil Preparator
• Evan Tamez-Galvan, Jurassic Giants Project Fossil Preparator
• Alex Polich, Hell Creek Project Fossil Preparator

Required Training Dates 
To be considered for this position, you must attend one of the following training sessions offered onsite at DMNS:

• Tuesday, June 4, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 4, 2 – 4 p.m.
• Friday, June 7, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Friday, June 7, 2 – 4 p.m.

We ask the Earth Sciences Labs volunteers to commit to at least 4 hours of volunteer time each week. Shifts are available seven days a week between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Deadline
The application will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17.

How To Apply
Complete the Earth Science Micro-Vertebrate Finder Application