Volunteering
Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Mount Washington Observatory! As a nonprofit, member-supported institution, volunteers are an important part of our operations.
Volunteer opportunities are available at our weather station on top of Mount Washington, and our administrative offices located in downtown North Conway, New Hampshire. We also occasionally need volunteers to assist with tasks in the field and at offsite events.
Summit Museum Docent Volunteer Program (May-October)
We are excited to introduce a new volunteer program that will support critical operations on the summit of Mount Washington with particular emphasis on the Extreme Mount Washington museum. This summer, we are looking for Museum Docent Volunteers (DVs) to provide educational programming for visitors and support daily tasks in our museum. DVs will act as ambassadors for MWOBS' work, history and mission by engaging with guess and assisting our Museum Attendants in a busy atmosphere for one week at a time from May through October. DVs will work in pairs and have the opportunity to live with our summit crew for the week, supporting the weather station's operations by providing nightly meals for the crew and conducting light clean-up duties in the living quarters.
If you are interested in this program, please read through the listed requirements, duties and example schedule before completing an application through the link below. Applicants chosen will be asked to submit to a $10.00 application fee to cover the costs of a background check before they are able to volunteer on the summit.
Duties:
- Act as a key informational guide in the Extreme Mount Washington (XMW) museum space by offering daily programs and demonstrations in the museum exhibit space (training provided)
- Assist Museum Attendants with duties that include cash register coverage, re-stocking of merchandise and cleaning the museum space
- Provide dinner in the summit weather station for staff and assist with nightly clean-up duties in the living quarters
Requirements:
- Enthusiastic about the work of MWOBS and eager to support summit operations through the work in the XMW museum and summit weather station
- Commit to a full shift week on Mount Washington that runs Wednesday to Wednesday (8 days)
- In good health, physically able to pick up boxes, co-exist with a pet cat on the summit (for those with allergies), able to safely evacuate the summit in the unlikely event of an emergency by walking down the 7.6-miles Mt. Washington Auto Road
- COVID-19 vaccine status- proof of vaccine card. Willing to be compliant with any and all MWOBS and State Parks of New Hampshire COVID-19 safety policies
- Comfortable speaking to the public as a representative of MWOBS
- Ability to cook nightly for a crew of 7+ people in the summit weather station
- Read and review training materials in advance of summit week
- Comply with a background check
- At least 18 years old
- Feel comfortable handling money (training provided on register)
- Comfortable sharing a bunk room with other DVs or MWOBS staff and/or interns
Typical Schedule:
- 10:00am-1:00pm: DV1 in museum
- Noon-3:00pm: DV2 in museum
- 4:45pm-5:30pm: Museum closing and clean up.
- 5:30pm-7:00pm: Cooking, dinner, clean up.
To apply, visit this link:
Summit Museum Docent Volunteer Application
Volunteering at Our Administrative Offices and Other Locations
Volunteers support our administrative staff in a variety of ways. In the office, volunteers help with mailings and other administrative tasks. Outside, volunteers help us with landscaping and maintaining our remote instrument sites throughout the White Mountains. Volunteers also provide support at local and regional events. If you would like to offer your time and talent, we invite you to complete a valley volunteer application.
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