Invertebrate Paleontology

Volunteers

Volunteering in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology gives you the opportunity to work with a world-class collection of fossils at one of the finest museums in the world. The Division’s collections, offices and labs are located in the new Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center next to the Yale Peabody Museum. There is always something exciting happening at the Peabody!

It’s a great way to reach out to the community, meet friends and help with scientific research. It’s fun and fascinating! Hours are flexible. As members, volunteers receive free admission to the Museum and a subscription to the Explorer membership newsletter. No prior museum experience is expected; training will be provided.

Volunteers have provided assistance with the cataloging and curation of fossils in the Division. In the past, volunteers have helped update the collections to the highest curatorial standards, by replacing old trays with acid free archival trays, by designating “YPM numbers” (the unique specimen identification number for each fossil), by recording locality data, by cataloging materials into the computer database, and by labeling specimens and drawers with pertinent information.

Several projects in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology have benefitted from the contributions of many volunteers.


Volunteer Penny Benson holds a polished fossil of an ammonite. Behind her is a model of a life-size eurypterid, an extinct arthropod.




Volunteer Erica Champion with an ammonite. Behind her is a cast of a vendobiont slab.




Volunteer Nell Nylen Green holds a fossilized shrimp burrow in front of geologic chart.







Volunteer Lisette Henrey examines Syringopora specimens (a tabulate coral).




Volunteer Cecilia Tenorio working in the Division’s reprint library.



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