Do you love animals, science, learning and young children?   Are you 14 years of age or older?  Volunteer with us and help little explorers make big discoveries in our Zoo or Museum, at our Baylands Nature Center, or in support of Special Events.

Discovery Guide – Volunteer in the Exhibit Hall and Zoo and help visitors discover the science behind the exhibits.  Facilitate live animal encounters or interpretive programs with our teaching collection, or leading family story times.  6-month minimum commitment required.

Exhibits Behind-the-Scenes – Help maintain and build upcoming exhibits in our workshop!  This opportunity requires prior building experience, including carpentry, engineering, machine operation, industrial design, theatre set design & construction, or general construction.  6-month minimum commitment required.

Become a summer intern.  College students studing exhibit development, architecture, design, sculpture, informal education, or museum studies encouraged to apply. 3-month minimum commitment required.  

Zoo Behind-the-Scenes – Assist with the daily care of the zoo animals by preparing and feeding the special diets of the animals, cleaning enclosures and working directly with some of the 50+ animals to ensure their health.  6-month minimum commitment required.

Baylands Nature Center – Assist with a variety of educational and administrative duties including greeting and orientating visitors to the Center and surrounding Open Space, maintaining exhibit and learning resources and participating on special projects.  6-month minimum commitment required.

Special Events & Administrative Support – Help out with special weekend events and celebrations for Members of the Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, or work behind-the-scenes in our fundraising office.  The Friends are a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and enhancing the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. The Friends work closely with the City of Palo Alto to provide exciting and interactive museum exhibits, free science education classes to students in East Palo Alto, and improvements and renovations of the Zoo and Museum facilities.  


To become a volunteer, click here to download the Volunteer Application. Submit it to Ines Thiessen via fax (650.473.1965), via e-mail (Ines.Thiessen@CityofPaloAlto.org) or in person.

Click here to see a video about our partnership with Abilities United. Adults with disabilitiies volunteer at our museum to help care for our animals and take care of exhibits.