Volunteer opportunities bloom at the Native Plant Center

Planning and conservation › Natural areas, parks and trails › Restoring the landscape › Native Plant Center › Volunteer opportunities

Learn about volunteer opportunities at the Native Plant Center that introduce you to local native plants in the Portland metropolitan area and some of the less traveled places where they thrive.

Want to learn about the Portland metropolitan area's diversity of native plants while exploring less traveled places on Metro's properties? Consider becoming a volunteer seed scout, seed collector, conservation educator or assistant at the Native Plant Center. By getting involved, you'll immerse yourself in the region's most special habitats: Indian plum blossoms in Douglas fir forests, Western saxifrage blooms dotting the rocky meadows of an oak prairie.

Seed scouts

From March through September, seed scouts help make sure native plant species thrive in the Pacific Northwest. Fieldwork starts with a six-hour training, followed by scouting sites to gain familiarity with the area. Volunteers collect data for the plant center's Bloomtime Project and participate in targeted seed collection at one of Metro's scenic natural areas. Trained seed scouts visit their assigned sites about twice a month, gaining a rich understanding of the region's wet prairie, upland prairie, oak woodland and coniferous forest habitats.

Download a full position description
Download an application
Email your completed application to Metro

Seed collectors

What better way to visit Metro’s natural areas on a bright, sunny June day than collecting seeds from uncommon and threatened species? This position begins with a day of training in June to learn seed and data collection protocol, plus a site visit to gain hands-on experience and form field teams. Collectors work with seed scouts to gather seeds from targeted species on a site-by-site basis and record collection data while working outdoors. This position requires committing to collecting seed three times throughout the summer. Native plant identification is preferred, but not required.

Download a full position description
Download an application
Email your completed application to Metro

Conservation educators

The Native Plant Center serves as an outdoor classroom, giving students hands-on, place-based experiences while encouraging their understanding of land stewardship and conservation. Enthusiastic volunteers who have an interest in native plants or gardening and are comfortable working with youth are needed. Expertise not required, but you must be willing to get your hands dirty!

Email Metro to sign up or get more information

Native Plant Center assistants

Volunteers assist in all aspects of propagating native herbaceous species – harvesting and cleaning seeds, planting native seeds, transplanting and potting seedlings, and setting out young plants into beds. Help with nursery operations: watering, weeding, seed bed preparation, general maintenance, data collection and filing. Learn about native plant conservation and local ecosystems while developing skills to work in Metro’s natural areas. This is a year-round position; duties and tasks change with the seasons. New recruits are asked to first attend an orientation at a Saturday volunteer venture to get firsthand experience and a tour of the center.

Email Metro to sign up or get more information

For those with less time

Volunteers interested in less of a time commitment are encouraged to participate in group seed collection events led by experienced seed collectors or in seed harvest days at the Native Plant Center, scheduled throughout the season. Volunteers will help to monitor and collect seeds from Metro natural areas with rare or unique habitats. Receive training in plant identification, seed collection and processing techniques and work outdoors in a beautiful Metro natural area.

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