Giving the Bay a Voice
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Volunteer

You Can Support Our Mission

There are so many different ways you and your family can support our mission to protect and restore Barnegat Bay and its ecosystem. By donating your time to becoming a volunteer, you can directly help make a difference in our watershed. All of our volunteer positions come with training and guidance. You will never be asked to jump into something you aren’t comfortable doing. 

There are no minimum requirements except that children under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult when at our programs. However, youth are encouraged to volunteer on their own! Inquire about our youth volunteer list.

Here Are a Few Ways You Can Help!

School field trip assistant – Each semester we invite school children into our outdoor classroom to get hands-on experience. Each field trip day students rotate through stations on our 40 acres to get in the water, see live animals, and explore the forest. We would love your help as an extra set of hands to help manage the programs. You have the opportunity to be a helping hand or run a program station all on your own! 

Special skills (graphic design, photography, blog writing, advocacy, podcast and video editing, grant writing, social media content creation, planning, zoning, engineering, legal expertise, GIS mapping, etc)

-We are a 53 year old independent voice for Barnegat Bay because time and time again people from our community have stepped up and offered their talents to our mission to restore and protect our watershed. These special skills vary so much! If you have training, talent or experience in something exceptional and you want those skills to help our Bay, select this volunteer position. We can sit down and show you the projects we are working on and our dreams list and find the right match for you. 

Fundraiser event assistant -We are funded by independent donations and local fundraising events. This helps give our mission a strong and independent voice for the Barnegat Bay. If you would be interested in getting a little dressed up, and helping us run our big fundraising events 2 or 3 times a year, we would love your help with set up, break down, and event logistics. This volunteer will be able to access food and drink for free as a part of the crew. 

Office help and organization – assist the SBB staff at our ecocenter Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm on some office projects and general upkeep.

  • Water indoor plants
  • Organize books or desks
  • Prep program supplies
  • Lick, stamp, seal envelopes
  • Organize files 
  • CSA: Transport extra veggies from EcoCenter to food pantry (only on Wednesdays)

EcoCenter grounds maintenance– Our EcoCenter sits on 40 acres of Green Acres property with plenty of trails for recreational use. An important part of our work is making sure our trails and outdoor spaces are easily accessible to the public. Here are a few seasonal tasks you could do to assist in keeping our outdoor spaces at their best.

  • Weed Gardens
  • Water Plants 
  • Rake Leaves
  • Mow the Lawn
  • Remove tripping hazards on trail 
  • Rake sticks out of yard
  • Remove invasive species
  • Fill/clean bird feeders
  • Pick up trash throughout the woods
  • Turn compost

Programs/Events Volunteer – We put together various programs for all ages that can take place throughout our watershed. If you like trying new things and working with the public, you can help with different types of events. Here are examples of a few programs.

  • Rain Barrel Workshop
  • Rain Garden Workshop
  • Pirate Raids (Enviro education program with a little performing arts!)
  • EcoCenter festivals (Trunk or Treat & Egg Hunt)
  • Nature programs (Moth night, seinning, bird walks)
  • One off kid programs (Bird Beak Buffet, etc)

Festival Volunteer – We work in a large watershed with many different community events and we would love to participate in all of them. You can assist us with getting our mission out there by tabling at community events. No experience necessary, we will train you and provide you with all the outreach materials you would need. You can either assist us at events or take the show on the road all by yourself!

Water Quality Monitoring – The biggest challenge facing Barnegat Bay is the lack of quality water needed for fish to thrive, for us to swim in, and for us to fish. By testing the water, we can help determine what is harming our waterways and where the culprits are. If you want to help collect scientific data on and around Barnegat Bay, this is the right position for you. If you live on a lagoon in Barnegat Bay-even better! Come to a training session and get all the supplies you need to collect and analyze water samples taken directly from your backyard. (Opportunity not yet available). 

Cleanup Crew – Save Barnegat Bay has a goal to clean up nonpoint source pollution (bottles, cans, trash, debris, etc) throughout our watershed one town at a time! We will be traveling around Barnegat Bay and beyond hosting cleanups every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 10am-1pm. Our watershed includes 37 towns so don’t hesitate to see when we are visiting your hometown. Check out our list of cleanups below and join the Cleanup Crew! 

Sign up to be a Volunteer TODAY!

Alexandra Sellitsch

Alex is 27 years old and is an aspiring marine biologist who is finishing up her junior year at Stockton University. Growing up by the beach has made a significant impact on Alex’s life, which has influenced her passion for the ocean. She is an advocate for elasmobranch conservation, and enjoys getting her hands dirty in research. Alex is currently an intern with Barnegat Bay, researching pathogen influences in the bay’s water. She is also an active intern partnering with one of her professors, who is researching dual seagrass habitats in the Mullica River-Great Bay Estuary. In her spare time, Alex enjoys spending time at the beach and teaching herserself new hobbies. Hobbies that include roller skating, and surfing. Alex is also volunteering with the Berkeley Township Underwater Search and Rescue Team, and is in the process of obtaining her SCUBA certification.