Volunteer

Volunteer Gardeners

***We are currently paused on accepting new volunteer gardeners while we focus on hiring new staff and coordinating this program. Thank you for your patience. We will update this notice when that changes.***

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. 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.

**Open enrollment of new volunteers is during the first two weeks of each UCLA academic quarter. A minimum commitment of three hours per week is required. You must be 18 years of age or older to volunteer.**

Current available shift times are:

Tuesdays; 8:30am – 11:30am or 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Fridays: 8:30am – 11:30am or 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Saturdays: 10:00am – 1:00pm
Sundays: 10:00am – 1:00pm

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer gardener please:

Fill out the Volunteer Gardener Application and read the Volunteer Gardener Commitment.
If you are not a current UCLA student, please also fill out this Volunteer Gardener HR Paperwork.
Email this paperwork to bgstaff@lifesci.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.

The next training will be held in Fall of 2020. To learn about upcoming trainings, please email Jules 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