Volunteer

Volunteer2025-12-08T15:32:40-05:00
Plant Sale volunteers at Baltimore Woods Nature Center.

Join the Volunteer Team
at Baltimore Woods 

The vibrant community of volunteers at The Woods is a group of individuals who share similar interests and a passion for environmental stewardship and education. Whether it be contributing to the health of our natural world through maintaining the land, or being a friendly, helpful face around the Interpretive Center, each volunteer is essential to keeping our organization running smoothly.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to sign up,
email [email protected] or
call the office at (315) 673-1350.

What are you interested in?

Volunteer and child at the Fairy Festival at Baltimore Woods Nature Center.

Programs and Special Events includes: setup/cleanup, parking attendant, baking, food prep, tending booths, visitor engagement, and rental support.

Front desk volunteer at Baltimore Woods Nature Center assisting a naturalist.

At the front desk, it is your responsibility to greet incoming guests, assist guests if needed, answer calls, and tend the gift shop.

Office volunteer opportunities include: Reception, Mailings, Data Entry, Desktop Publishing, Editing, Typing, Bookkeeping, and Phone Calls. Front desk volunteers often have the opportunity to help with office tasks.

Baltimore Woods educator with a young camper holding a net.

Educational program volunteering opportunities include: assisting with and supporting field trips or public programs and working at summer and spring break camps. To work with children, you must be willing to complete a background check. Prior experience with education or children is preferred.

Volunteers at Baltimore Woods Nature Center working on culvert maintenance.

Stewardship includes: Lawn mowing, trail work, snow removal, gardening, woodworking and invasive species removal. Land management projects are usually tasked to our A-Team, which meets on Wednesday mornings at 9:00am at Baltimore Woods. If you’re available at this time and want to learn more, click here!

Native Plant Sale volunteers at Baltimore Woods Nature Center.

The members of our Board of Directors are all volunteers. Members attend monthly board meetings and many join committees including finance, development, stewardship, marketing, and more. Board members also volunteer at annual events like the Mother’s Day Garden Tour and the Native Plant Sale.

The skills opportunities are intended for people with specific skill sets not captured by the other volunteering categories. The opportunities include (but are not limited to!): Electrical work, marketing, carpentry, horticulture, art gallery curation, and photography. If you feel you have a skill or knowledge to share with The Woods, tell us your skill on the volunteer interest form linked below.

Baltimore Woods runs on volunteer steam, and the donation of your time to help our organization run smoothly is always appreciated! If you don’t have spare time to donate, then see if there is a match for you on our wishlist, or donate online!

Why volunteer with us?

Baltimore Woods Nature Center community dinner

At our annual community dinner, volunteers and other community members gather to celebrate and reflect on the past year.

Volunteers at the Autumnal Fairy Festival at Baltimore Woods Nature Center

Volunteers at our annual Autumnal Fairy Festival usually embrace the magic of the event and dress up as fairies and other magical creatures!

At Baltimore Woods, our volunteers are essential for our organization to function and meet its mission of conservation and place based nature education in Central New York. All volunteers are able to contribute their personal skills and talents to better The Woods each day, while channeling their energy into positive pursuits –  of which there are many!

The volunteers at Baltimore Woods are not just helping hands, but also an amazing community! Volunteers often gather for trainings or special projects related to ongoing research on the preserve, and to learn more about their passions, including birding, local foods, and forest ecology! Join us in appreciation at a volunteer lunch once a month and our annual community dinner. Every Wednesday from 9:00-9:30am, our stewardship crew, “The A-Team,” gathers for coffee, snacks, and socializing. All volunteers are welcome to join in this social half hour to meet new people and enjoy a treat!

 “I love the sense of community at Baltimore Woods. The ecological community makes the hiking great, but the human community is engaged and I feel connected to them.”
– Fran Lawlor, Front Desk Volunteer &
A-Team Member

“I keep volunteering at the front desk because I love seeing the smile on kids’ faces when they like to tell me what they saw out in the woods (the adults, too – but mostly the kids.”
– Linda Garner, Front Desk Volunteer

Volunteer Spotlight

Upcoming volunteer opportunities!

volunteers lay dirt along the trail

 Stewardship Work Days
at Baltimore Woods

First Saturday of the Month, 9:00am – 12:00pm

Common projects for these volunteer opportunities include invasive species removal, trail building, mulching, gardening, and more. The exact project will be selected and sent out to participants closer to the date based on weather and registration.

 In December we’ll be working on adding more steps to our pond, which improves access for our field trips, camp groups, and more to get down to the pond to explore! Adding steps also helps to protect our pond from sediment erosion and make sure that groups will be able to visit the area for years to come.

2026 Dates Coming Soon

 A-Team

Weekly on Wednesdays, 9:00am – 12:00pm

The A-Team is a group of volunteers that meet every Wednesday to work on stewardship and maintenance projects around the preserve. Their weekly tasks typically include trail maintenance, event set-up, gardening, invasive species removal, building maintenance, and more! 

A-Team volunteers do not have to be available every single week. There are typically many different tasks available to do and volunteers can select what they would like to help with based on their skills and physical capabilities.

Registration is not required, but you can reach out to [email protected] to be added to the A-Team email list.

Staff and volunteers at Baltimore Woods working to get the weather station installed.
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