Volunteer
Consider volunteering at SBCM! Ask about our flexible hours, Tuesday through Sunday.
Engage with our museum’s cultural and natural history collections by becoming a volunteer! Volunteers and Interns support our efforts in preserving, learning, and engaging with our collections by connecting with our museum curators in Anthropology, Earth Sciences, Education, History, and Integrated Biology.
A volunteer can be anyone 15 years of age or older that can commit to a minimum of 6 hours a month– many of whom are high school, college, and graduate students, retirees, or curious individuals looking to learn and serve their community. Our volunteers and interns support our public programming, school programming, collection care, administration, and more!
Internships
Our interns are college and graduate students who attend institutions that are a part of the San Bernardino County’s Master Student Internship Agreement. An intern position is usually a timed commitment that has a start and end date, mainly focusing on the completion of a specific project set by the student and assigned curator. Internships are granted on a case by case basis and applicants must confirm that they attend one of the following schools:
- California Baptist University
- California State University, Fullerton
- California State University, San Bernardino
- Chaffey Community College District
- San Bernardino Community College District (i.e., San Bernardino Valley College & Crafton Hills College)
- University of La Verne
- University of Redlands
- University of Riverside, School of Public Policy (only)
- University of Southern California
- San Bernardino County School District
If you are interested in an internship, please reach out to Curator of Education, Eliana Zacarias.
What is the Process to Volunteer
Submit an application to volunteer at the San Bernardino County Museum or the Victor Valley Museum. We review volunteer applications on a quarterly basis and will contact applicants accordingly. Volunteers must be 15 years or older.
Next Steps:
- Fill out and submit an application for the museum site you’d like to work with
- Attend one of our quarterly Volunteer Open House meetings
- Complete a background check
- Attend a volunteer orientation session
- Receive specialized training with assigned curator
Current volunteers and interns can access the Scheduling Portal here.
Let us know your skills and interest, and we will find a match!
Contact Eliana Zacarias at (909) 798-8611 for more information.
At the San Bernardino County Museum and Victor Valley Museum, volunteers are highly valued, needed and appreciated on all levels. Our function depends on volunteers, and we are so very grateful! In April, we honored our museum volunteers for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.
Anthropology volunteers and interns will play a vital role in the inventorying of the objects housed in the archaeological repository. Volunteers will participate in digitization of archives, photographing and re-numbering objects. Other duties include writing condition assessments, cleaning and rehousing ethnographic and archaeological material. Volunteers may work in designing and planning exhibitions, as well as working on public programming and events.
Volunteers and interns will have the opportunity to assist in digitization efforts, inventory the collection, and engage the public in our fossil prep lab.
Volunteers and interns support public and school programming by Volunteers and interns who work with the Education team, while also having the opportunity to work behind-the-scenes, work in more public facing volunteer assignments that support our public and school programming.
Museum Ambassadors are volunteers who directly work with our visitors and school groups presenting public demonstrations and activities on the floor during public and school visits, as well as assisting in supporting public events. Behind-the-scenes projects include inventorying, organizing, and re-housing the museum’s educational collection, and prepping education material.
Volunteers and interns participate in digitization and inventory projects of artifact and archival collections. Such projects include photographing the history artifact collections, scanning of archival material, digitizing the museum’s vast photograph collection, working with the museum’s collections database, participating in collections inventories, helping with projects at the museum’s historic sites, and assisting with exhibit installation and deinstallation.
Volunteers and interns in Integrated Biology will assist in re-housing, inventory, preservation, and conservation projects for the museum’s natural history collections, which include entomology, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, and botany. In addition, volunteers and interns will aid in data entry on the museum’s web-based collections management system platform.