Volunteer

Volunteer Gardeners

Volunteer gardeners work alongside the garden staff to maintain the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. Volunteers participate in a variety of activities including pruning, raking, weeding, watering, planting and propagating. Prior gardening experience is encouraged but not a requirement, volunteers will be trained for each of these activities. A minimum commitment of four hours per week is required. Volunteer gardeners are encouraged to expand their horticultural and botanical knowledge through hands on training with staff as well as by attending lectures and events at the Garden.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer gardener please contact Joan Muench: (310) 825-1260 jmue29@ucla.edu

Volunteer Docents

The UCLA Botanical Garden is an incredible 7.5 acre living museum, containing plants from all over the world! Come learn to interpret this natural wonder for visitors. As a volunteers docent, you will lead tours through the garden for a variety of audiences from 1st-12th grade students, UCLA groups, and visiting adults.

In preparation for this, docents participate in a training where they learn about general botany and the unique plants found within the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. You will shadow experienced docents prior to leading your own tours. Training time will be a combination of short lectures, garden walks, educational strategy practice, and development of a personalized tour that you can confidently deliver to students and adults.

Benefits: In addition to sharing the wonders of the plant kingdom with the public, docents are encouraged and offered opportunities to continue their own botanical learning, through group field trips, lectures and special events. This is a great opportunity to deepen your botanical knowledge, meet new friends, support the educational mission of the Garden, and to strengthen your public speaking skills.

To learn about upcoming trainings, please email Jules Cooch at julesc@ucla.edu to be added to the interest list.

» Support the Docent & Education Program

Volunteer Herbarium Technicians

Are you interested in learning about plants and exploring our collection of dried, pressed specimens? Volunteer to support a National Science Foundation project by imaging and digitizing the UCLA Herbarium collection. Must have some computer experience.

To learn more, contact Herbarium Manager Dr. Tom Huggins: huggins@ucla.edu