Become a Plover Project Volunteer

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What do piping plover and least tern volunteers do?

From Ogunquit Beach to Reid State Park in Georgetown, dozens of hardworking, passionate volunteers lend their time and skills to Maine Audubon’s Piping Plover and Least Tern Recovery Project. These volunteers are crucial to the protection of piping plovers and least terns in Maine.

As soon as piping plovers begin to arrive in April, volunteer monitors begin to walk their local beaches, alerting Maine Audubon biologists when and where they see the birds. Throughout the nesting season, beach walkers monitor plover and tern nests, watch chicks grow and learn to fly, and educate other beachgoers about the endangered shorebirds.

In the towns of Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunkport, and Scarborough, volunteer monitoring programs dispatch volunteers to regularly walk their local beaches and collect data that Maine Audubon biologists, who manage 22 Maine beaches, couldn’t get on their own. “Volunteer monitors are the eyes and ears of our biologists,” says Jody Jones, coordinator of Maine Audubon’s Piping Plover and Least Tern Recovery Project.

Want to Become a Volunteer Monitor?

There are currently volunteer monitoring programs in Ogunquit and Wells and at Western Beach in Scarborough.

Biologists are also seeking volunteers to monitor Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, Hills Beach in Biddeford, and several other beaches in southern Maine.

All volunteers receive training and data collection forms.

Interested? Contact us by e-mail at plovertern@maineaudubon.org or by phone at (207) 781-2330 ext. 272.

Volunteer Resources

Download the Volunteer Handbook and Monitoring Forms or click here for data forms and other helpful information.

Internship Opportunities

Maine Audubon also has intern positions available for individuals looking to learn first-hand the rewards and challenges of wildlife conservation. Volunteer interns work with biologists managing the beaches one to two days a week from mid May until mid August.

For high school and college students considering the field of environmental conservation, this is a great way to experience how an exemplary environmental organization operates.

Visit the employment opportunities section for internship postings.