Biology is a fascinating subject, even for those who don't study it for a living. Volunteer opportunities for non-professionals interested in biology help anyone get involved in biological research. From hands-on conservation work to providing computer downtime to solve difficult scientific problems, there's a volunteer opportunity suited to almost anyone.
Counting and Collecting Animals and Plants
For those who like to get hands-on with biology, a bio blitz is a good opportunity. During a bio blitz, scientists and volunteers collect samples over a 24-48 hour time period in a given area, usually a park or wilderness site. The purpose is for scientists to determine the biodiversity of the area, and volunteers are used to help with the observations and collection of organisms. Many schools, museums and nature centers carry out bio blitz programs, sometimes as an annual event.
Bird lovers might be interested in the Annual Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the Audubon Society. Every Christmas, thousands of volunteer birders count all the birds they see in a given area in an effort to provide valuable scientific data about migrations and populations of winter birds.
Clinical Trials Always Need Volunteer Participants
Volunteering to be a participant in clinical trials can be an interesting way to spend a few days and help medical research scientists get important information about conditions or treatments.
A clinical trial volunteer can be someone with a specific medical condition trying out a new medicine or can act as a control, someone without any health problems to give researchers baseline information to compare to later participants. These trials can be as simple as donating blood a couple of times or as involved as spending a week in a sleep lab having all nighttime activity monitored. University and biotechnology company websites often post openings for these kinds of volunteer opportunities.
Donating genetic material for scientific research is another option for potential biology volunteers. The Personal Genome Project has a goal of sequencing 100,000 genomes from volunteers to be used by scientists worldwide. Participants need to have some knowledge of biology and take a test to prove it before being considered informed consenting volunteers.
Research Vacations Use Volunteers Worldwide
For people whose idea of a great vacation is tracking lions in Asia or monitoring sea turtle nests on a tropical island beach, volunteer research vacations can be a good way to see the world and help further biological research.
Earthwatch is one of the largest organizations that arranges biology-based research vacations. Participants typically pay a fee that covers their lodging, food and helps support the research being done. These trips are usually a 1-2 week stint helping biologists collect data in places around the world.
The Sierra Club offers volunteer vacation opportunities that involve environmental work, including things like habitat restoration and removing non-indigenous plants from wildlife parks.
Donating Computer Time to Big Biology Issues
Another way for people interested in helping out biology research is by donating their computer downtime to work on big bio problems. One example is the Folding@Home project, sponsored by Stanford university. Participants download software that runs on their idle computer and computes protein folding. The data is sent to Stanford scientists, where it can be used to make important discoveries. Other distributed computing biology projects include Rosetta@Home, the Human Proteome Folding Project and the Screensaver Lifesaver project.
Biology isn't just for degreed scientists. Amateur biologists and anyone interested in biology can contribute to valuable research projects in a variety of areas.
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