Spotlight on Volunteers

Volunteers are vital to the success of the Yale Peabody Museum. If you have skills, background or interests to share, the Museum welcomes you! It’s a great way to reach out to the community, meet friends and help with scientific research. It’s fun and fascinating!

Volunteer in the Collections

Volunteers are welcome to become involved in a variety of research and support activities.

Opportunities are currently only available in:

Botany – The Yale Herbarium
All other positions are currently filled.



At left: Margery Mills (on ladder), a volunteer in Division of Invertebrate Paleontology, with Collections Manager Susan Butts.




Student volunteer Tom Russell assisted in the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab.

Volunteer at Events

Yale student Sharon Ma makes giant squid masks with young families at the Peabody’s Halloween event.	Trish O’Leary Treat helps make dog biscuits at the Dog (and Cat!) Days of Summer event.
Frances Tirone making lanterns with visitors to the Museum’s Chinese New Year celebration.	Joanne Dietl making elephant hats with young Museum visitors.
Volunteer Tom Platt at the Touch Table during Dinosaur Days.	Volunteer Coordinator Jenny Briggs mixing “play dough” for making bird nests during school activity week.
Volunteer at the Fossil Cart Volunteers receive training in presenting Fossil Cart materials to Museum visitors. You’ll meet with a member of the Peabody’s Education Department for 2 one-hour sessions, where you’ll receive handouts to study. After being assessed at a second meeting, you’ll take the Fossil Cart out into the Great Hall at a time that suits you, usually for about 2 hours — where you’ll have fun engaging the public with the fascinating items in your cart!
At right: Yale student Erica Larsen helps a boy and his father compare pieces of fossilized bone to a cow’s bone and shows them a replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth at the Fossil Cart in the Great Hall.
Volunteers in Other Areas of the Museum Julian Spector has been a volunteer since 1993 and helps in the Exhibition Preparation Lab. Mary Crieger lends her efforts in the Membership Office.
Become a Docent Trish O’Leary Treat teaching an attentive group of children in the Great Hall. Gerald Oppenheim explains dinosaurs to a school group.
Become a Yale Peabody Museum Volunteer For information on how you can become a Yale Peabody Museum volunteer, contact: Jennifer Briggs Volunteer Coordinator 203.432.3731 Fax 203.432.9816 peabody.volunteers@yale.edu Or download and print an application to become a Yale Peabody Museum volunteer [PDF 168 KB] and mail your completed form to the Volunteer Office. Parents of volunteers under 18 must complete a “Consent to Treatment” form [PDF 105 KB]. You may type your information into these PDF forms with the latest version of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.® Mailing address Volunteer Office Peabody Museum of Natural History Yale University P.O. Box 208118 New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA Go to Top