Great Salt Lake Volunteer Opportunities
Great Salt Lake Institute does not offer volunteer opportunities – we are focused on undergraduate research and education projects for Westminster University students. However, we collaborate with organizations that contribute to the health of Great Salt Lake and the wider Great Salt Lake watershed. If you are looking for volunteer activities, we strongly encourage you to check out the following organizations:
About the organization: Antelope Island State Park, located on Great Salt Lake, offers a variety of outdoor activities and wildlife viewing opportunities. Visitors can enjoy hiking, biking, horseback riding, camping, and exploring the historic Fielding Garr Ranch. The island is famous for its free-roaming bison herd, as well as other wildlife like mule deer, pronghorn, and various bird species.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): Volunteer as an individual as a campground host, naturalist volunteer, trail patrol, or Historic Fielding Garr Ranch host. Volunteer with a group for a service project doing restoration and clean up.
About the organization: The mission of FRIENDS is to preserve and protect the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the Lake through education, research, advocacy and the arts. The long-term vision of FRIENDS is to achieve comprehensive watershed-based restoration and protection for the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): FRIENDS hosts the International Coastal Cleanup at Great Salt Lake annually in September, inviting volunteers from across the watershed to help remove trash and improve wildlife habitat along Great Salt Lake's southern shores. FRIENDS has been Utah’s lead organizer of Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup initiative since 2014.
About the organization: Gillmor Sanctuary’s mission is to protect critically important shorebird habitat along Great Salt Lake by developing and applying science-based adaptive management techniques to increase the number of waterbirds at Audubon's Gillmor Sanctuary at Great Salt Lake.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): Monitoring light pollution, Snow Plover populations, surveying shorebirds and restoration projects.
About the organization: Great Salt Lake Audubon is dedicated to protecting and enhancing habitat for wild birds, animals and plants, and to maintaining healthy and diverse environments for wildlife and people throughout the state.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): Volunteer with the Great Salt Lake Audubon to reduce light pollution and bird-window collision, to do outreach and education, or advocate and promote conservation.
About the organization: HawkWatch’s mission is to conserve our environment through education, long-term monitoring, and scientific research on raptors as indicators of ecosystem health.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): There are both in-person and remote volunteer opportunities including reviewing video of nest food deliveries, monitoring nest boxes, assisting with owl ecology studies through Earthwatch International, and providing educational outreach programs.
About the organization: Sageland Collaborative believes that wildlife and the habitats that sustain them can be conserved when science-based data informs collaborations centered on community. To that end, the collective focuses on increasing biodiversity & special-status species, conserving wildlife pathways, restoring vital habitat, and removingbarriers and inequities in the conservation sector.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): There are a variety of seasonal, mostly outdoor volunteer opportunities available from spring through fall. Volunteers can participate in community science projects such as collecting amphibian, reptile, pollinator, and shorebird data, mapping and restoring wildlife-friendly fencing, and assisting with shorebird surveys at key wetland sites. Additional opportunities include hands-on habitat restoration along riverscapes through planting native vegetation and building beaver restoration structures. Most projects require training, offer flexible scheduling, and vary in physical demands and accessibility.
About the organization: The Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter is a 1,200-acre nature preserve and a 10,000 square foot LEED Platinum building with interactive exhibits about the surrounding environment. The center offers weekly nature tours, wildlife viewing opportunities, summer camps, environmental education for children and adults, evening lecture series, and a gift shop with local and ecofriendly art.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): Volunteers can help remove invasive weeds from the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter , help with soil amendment, weeding, and pruning the pollinator garden in front of the EcoCenter, or assist with leading family-friendly activity stations focused on pond exploration, wetland science, and outdoor play
About the organization: Tracy Aviary provides three unique opportunities to support its missionin partnership with community, inspiring action to conserve birds and habitats. The Liberty Park campus showcases birds from around the world in curated botanical gardens. The Nature Center is a natural local wildlife oasis along Pia Okwai (Jordan River) in Salt Lake City. And Tracy Aviary Conservation invites you to protect birds and their habitats through community science.
Volunteer opportunity description(s): Volunteer your time to conduct bird surveys, or help with horticulture, aviculture, or education.