This page includes links to volunteer activities that aren’t scheduled. Volunteer date and time are arranged by the partner organization and the individual volunteer. For scheduled activities, check out the Heartwood calendar.
New! To submit a potential volunteer opportunity for chapter consideration, please fill out this form.
In-person Volunteer Activities With Heartwood Partner Organizations:
Bayou Land Conservancy
Ongoing volunteer opportunities include: Trail Maintenance, Trail Stewards, Invasive Species Removal, Committees, Interpretive Hike leaders, our Ambassador Program and more! There is something for everyone who is interested in BLC’s mission and service area.
*Some opportunities do require additional training and education.
For more details, please contact: Karastin Katusin, kkatusin@bayouland.org
First Thursday of every month, 9a-10:30a, Dennis Johnston Park
Be part of the pollinator conservation effort in your community! Volunteers are needed year-round to weed, plant, and mulch the pollinator garden.
All tools will be provided including gloves, kneeling pads, and hand tools. Please dress for the weather, wear closed-toe shoes, and bring a refillable water bottle.
Register online at www.pct3.com. For more information, email parkprograms@pct3.hctx.net (713-274-2401) or contact Kris Linberk, kristina.Linberk@pct3.nctx.net.
VMS: RM: Other Locations (Specify Dennis Johnston Park Pollinator Garden Maintenance)
Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center is located at 20634 Kenswick Drive in Humble. Staff can be reached at JesseJonesPark@pct3.hctx.net or 281-446-8588. We always have special projects; contact us if you’re looking for something unique.
1. The park can use volunteers in the Butterfly Gardens and Greenhouse on Wednesday mornings. No experience required; on-the-job training provided. Email JesseJonesPark@pct3.hctx.net for information & to sign up.
RM: J Jones Park & Nature Center (Butterfly Gardens and Greenhouse)
2. The park hosts tens-of-thousands of community members as part of festivals, field trips, bird walks, nature-art-in-the-park, Texas Stream Team Monitoring and other educational programs. See a full list of opportunities through our online system, “Better Impact.” Use this link to create an account or to log in to your current account. No experience required; on-the-job training provided and opportunities to flex or build your skillset. Note: if you want to lead programs with children, email JesseJonesPark@pct3.hctx.net to start the background check process and to learn more about opportunities with kids.
PO: J Jones Park & Nature Center (describe activity performed)
Address: 20634 Kenswick Drive, Humble, Texas 77338, 281-446-8588
Contact: Alicia.Mein@pct3.hctx.net
Ongoing volunteer activity to maintain the Forest’s pollinator gardens and other areas. Join our work day every Tuesday, except holidays or inclement weather.
Bring your ideas, enthusiasm, and your own gardening gloves and tools.
To learn more about these opportunities, contact: heartwoodvsp@gmail.com.
VMS code: RM: WG Jones State Forest
Volunteers are needed to keep the Visitors Center open, hand out maps, answer questions, recommend sites and trails, point out the locations of the restrooms, and interact with guests in a friendly, welcoming manner
CONTACT JOHN HERRON Park Interpreter for details
(936) 355-9275
john.herron@tpwd.texas.gov
VMS: PO:HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK (Specify Volunteered to lead hikes, man the Nature Center, or help with trail maintenance.
Ongoing Tuesdays 8:30-11:30
Trail maintenance, volunteer work crew and garden group.
For information on volunteer opportunities at Kleb Woods, contact klebwoods@hcp4.net (281) 357-5324
VMS CODE: RM: Kleb Woods
20303 Draper Rd, Tomball, TX 77377
klebwoods@hcp4.net
Hike leaders and sweepers are needed the 3rd Saturday of each month to share the wonders found on the Lake Creek Preserve trails!
Contact Directly: Karastin Katusin KKatusin@BayouLand.org 330.447.8251
VMS code: PO: Public Outreach Events (Lake Creek Preserve Guided Hikes)
Nature Center Shop: (NOT AVAILABLE FOR VOLUNTEER HOURS)
Available shifts for Nature Center Shop: Saturday 11am-3pm and Sunday 11am-3pm
Shifts during the week are available as well, especially during field trips.
Archery: Every Saturday at 3pm. If you are interested in learning how to teach archery, let us know. We will set up volunteer training! We also have a need for volunteers to assist with bow and arrow repair. If you have any questions, please email Katharine.leboeuf@houstontx.gov
Extra Projects: These are projects that can be done at any time. If you would like to do one of them, let us know when you are coming, and we will make sure we have the stuff to work on the project.
Native Garden Bed Maintenance-Seed Collection
Monthly Bird Hike: Volunteer with us on Sunday, September 15th for our monthly bird hike 8am – 10am to help us ID birds during the Fall Migration.
Animal Care Opportunities (Joe Turner 832-395-7096)
Wednesdays 9am-11am – Feed all animals with the help of LHWP staff. Clean out scat, water bowls, and scrub tanks
Fridays 1pm-3pm – Help clean filters and water bowls
Sundays (Filled at this time)
Lake Houston Wilderness Park Native Garden Club is back every Friday from 10a-12p.
Please email Katharine.Leboeuf@houstontx.gov to RSVP.
VMS Code: RM: Lake Houston Wilderness Park: TMN Hours, Native Garden
Explore New Volunteer Opportunities!
Open House! 9a.m. until noon, February 5, 2025
Location: Mercer Botanical Center – 22540 Aldine Westfield Rd. – Spring, Texas 77373
Immediate Need:
Volunteer Librarian for Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens – Botanical Reference Library Location: Mercer Botanical Center. A degree in Library Science or prior work experience managing public or private professional library collections is required. Our current volunteer librarian will be moving from the Houston metro area, however, will provide training. Two hours per week is preferred for cataloging new reference books received from Peter H. Raven Library, Missouri Botanical Gardens, and routine tasks. Many librarian tasks can be accomplished online from the comfort of home. Access library catalog via https://opac.libraryworld.com/opac/home.php with Mercerlibrary as the one-word username with no password.
Immediate Need:
Botanical Sign Shop Volunteer- Location: Mercer Botanical Center. Spring cleaning happens year-round in the Sign Shop!Schedule one day in advance for 1-hour or longer sessions to assist disassembly, cleaning and filing of sign holders and labels and assist assembly of new signage for Mercer’s educational botanical and natural history displays.
Ongoing Jobs:
Mercer Botanical Center (MBC) – Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (MABG)
We welcome adult volunteers with a strong interest in plants/botany, natural history, gardening, databases and/or field research. Join MBC’s family of weekly volunteers and become an expert in one project or a suite of MBC projects!
Work with MBC’s herbarium, botanical art collections, library, nursery, gardens, and conservation programs are popular with Texas Master Naturalist and Texas Master Gardener volunteers, students, self-taught biologists, retired professionals, or fans of MABG! Mercer Botanical Center (MBC) is located at 22540 Aldine Westfield Rd., Spring, TX 77373. Other MBC volunteer work locations include Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (MABG) at 22306 Aldine Westfield Rd., Humble, TX 77338 or the Harris County Prairie Dawn Preserve (Willowbrook area) and additional offsite conservation field sites.
On-the-job training is provided by MBC staff after initial orientation with Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens’ volunteer coordinator, Colleen Powell 713-274-4162.
Once a volunteer is trained, flexible 1-hour (signage volunteers) to 3-hour-minimum work sessions are available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Work sessions must be scheduled in advance with MBC staff listed below.
OUTDOORS: 8 – 11 a.m. weekdays. Varied locations; weather permitting; gloves and tools provided:
Tuesdays & Thursdays: Endangered Species and Native Plant Garden volunteer: Work alongside horticulturists and botanists on identifying, planting, pruning, nurturing, and weeding for the garden. Interact with visitors and nature. This outdoor classroom is certified as a Best of Texas Wildscape Demonstration Garden, NABA butterfly garden, and serves as a training location for the Native Plant Society of Texas – Native Landscape Certification Program.
Location: Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, 22306 Aldine Westfield, Humble.
Seasonally – Conservation Nursery volunteer: Work alongside horticulturists and botanists for weekly maintenance and propagation of native plants during Spring, Summer and Fall for educational displays, restoration, and the Center for Plant Conservation National Collection of Endangered Plants https://saveplants.org/.
Location: MBC, 22540 Aldine Westfield Rd., Spring.
Field Conservation volunteer: As needed, throughout the year, primarily Spring through Fall. Work alongside horticulturists and botanists for monitoring, collecting seed or specimens, invasive species removal, and other aspects of restoration at the Harris County Prairie Dawn Preserve and native plant conservation sites throughout east Texas. Submit your volunteer application, indicate your interest, and MBC staff will contact you in advance of workdays.
INDOORS: 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays. Mercer Botanical Center (MBC) at 22540 Aldine Westfield Rd., Spring.
Herbarium Curator volunteer: Detail-oriented volunteers interested in year-round onsite database work, organization and detailed filing of herbarium specimens, and verifying plant names for long-term management of the collection. Over 50,000 herbarium specimens are maintained by Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens and serve as the largest working herbarium collection in the Houston area for the public and scientific community. This work is essential as the basis for the documentation, conservation, research, and for education about rare, native, and non-native display plants of MABG; new and historical collections for the checklist of Houston metro area flora; collections from the Gulf Coast area, U.S., and international locations. During June 2024, the imaging of 30,000 filed Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico specimens was completed at Mercer’s herbarium for the Texas Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH) National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant project facilitated by TX A&M and Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) herbarium partners. Ongoing imaging and documentation of Mercer (MERCA) and historical Houston ISD Spring Branch Science Center (SBSC) herbarium specimen collections allows global online access and study of these specimens.
Curatorial jobs include imaging of new specimens and detailed organizing, filing, restoration and/or data entry for long-term management of historical and new specimen sheets. Use your artistic ability, attention to detail and patience to prepare/mount newly collected specimens or historical herbarium specimens: adhere plants onto herbarium paper for a permanent record for authentication for taxonomic, genetic, ecological research; and educational outreach. A weekly or monthly commitment is preferred.
New: Database and file a newly donated reference collection of Texas and US bryophyte (moss) specimens!
Coming soon! Database and file a reference slide collection of Texas and US microfungal specimens!
Seed conservation volunteer assist throughout the year. Detail-oriented volunteers needed to clean, count, package native seeds, and/or enter data for Mercer’s and state and national partners for the National Collection of Endangered Plants seed banks.
Contact Anita Tiller, M.S. Botanist, anita.tiller@pct3.hctx.net
and Kari Hernandez, Botanical Collections Curator kari.hernandez@pct3.hctx.net
for questions, Mercer Botanical Center – Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens.
Contact Colleen Powell 713-274-4162 for additional citizen scientist projects: Wednesday morning Mercer Volunteer Native Plant Propagation Team; Mercer beehive program; garden tour docent program; MABG pollinator gardens, seed cleaning native and garden seeds for Friends of MABG events.
PERL is a biological field station owned and maintained by Sam Houston State University. It serves as a hub for research and education in ecology and biology. While significantprogress has been made to enhance its usefulness over the years, there is still much to be done. As aresult, extra hands are always welcome to help with its continued development! Below are some of the tasks that may be available to you, but if you have an interest in something else that could help PERL improve operations or enhance our understanding of the local biota, we’d be happy to find a project for you!
● Trail Maintenance: Assist with the removal of fallen debris, leveling and spreading mulch, filling
holes with soil and rocks, mowing and trimming vegetation along the trails.
● Invasive Species Management and Removal
● Repair and Upkeep of On-Site Signage
● Installing Hand Lines to Improve Site Accessibility
● Assist with dismantling and removing concrete and other man-made debris around the site to
improve safety and enable reuse elsewhere on-site.
● Assistance with the removal of brush and small trees as part of a habitat restoration project for
the Red Cockaded Woodpecker.
● Wildlife and Vegetation Surveys
● Assistance with the cultivation and introduction of native plants
● Trail Camera Setup, Operation, and Data Collection
● Assist with various tasks as needed, including basic maintenance of onsite machinery and
facilities, as well as other activities requiring an extra set of hands.
Contact me, Jesse T. Frakey, via Call, Text or email at your convenience and we can get you started out
here! (and feel free to bring a friend or two!)
jtf041@shsu.edu, 832.530.9754
Texas Waters Specialist
Join the corps of well-informed volunteer specialists who provide education, outreach, and service to keep our local water bodies healthy by volunteering right here at home. This unique certification program is made possible by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. Visit the TPWD Texas Waters Specialist webpage for more details on how to get certified as a Texas Waters Specialist.
VMS code: AT: Tx Waters Certification Program
VMS code for volunteering will depend on the individual activity.
Join the Invasive Plant Task Force to help eradicate Air Potato and other invasive plants along The Woodlands trails. The team meets monthly at various locations.
Contact: Lisa Houston at itftownship@gmail.com
What: Organize a group to plan, develop and implement a native pollinator garden at the site on Bessie Owens Dr in Montgomery (near Fernland Park). We have met with the Rotary folks who run the park and are working on a viable landscape plan. Interns are working on the project.
Where: Rotary Memory Garden (located behind Stewart Library in Montgomery)
Contact: Shelly McCoy (936) 442-1024 slm95@yahoo.com
VMS: NPA Nature/Public Access for Other Organizations (Specify North Montgomery County Native Pollinator Garden and detail activities.)