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The volunteer program is essential to Cape Lookout National Seashore’s success. Volunteers help through season long opportunities to one day beach cleanups, assisting with visitor services, maintenance of facilities, wildlife research, and much more. As a Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP), you will work side-by-side with National Park Service rangers, biologists, and maintenance staff. The types of positions vary greatly and may include such activities as computer data entry, skilled and unskilled maintenance, trail trimming, beach clean-up, wildlife monitoring, exotic plant removal, greeting visitors at visitor centers, and environmental education assistance.
How to Apply?
Contact the Volunteer Coordinator if you have any questions about the positions posted. Current Volunteer OpportunitiesWhen volunteer opportunities are available for the park, they will be listed below. Positions can be full or part time.Long Term Volunteer OpportunitiesOur long-term volunteer opportunities range from one week to a few months. These volunteers help with visitor centers, stay on the barrier islands, and assist at campgrounds. Volunteers are expected to volunteer 32 hours a week. If you have a passion for serving the public, consider working at Harkers Island Visitor Center. Duties for this position include providing information to visitors, answering the telephone, assisting with special events or programs, and performing opening and closing duties at the center. The daily work schedule is 8 hours, from 8:45-5:15 with a 30-minute lunch break. To qualify for an RV Pad housing area, volunteers must commit to 4 days/week of visitor center coverage. Volunteer couples may split this coverage from day-to-day, but a total of four days of coverage per week is required.
Time: 32 hours per week Housing: RV Pad (45 foot; full hookup; 30 or 50 amp) available all year. Suitable for individual volunteers or pairs of volunteers. Local volunteers can apply to work one day a week. Performs simple and routine work involved in the maintenance of facilities, assists cabin renters and other visitors, and provides after-hours assistance to visitors in the cabin camp. Caretakers are on duty from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM and on-call 24 hours a day. Stationed at the Great Island Cabin Camp on South Core Banks.
Time: 40 hours per week. Housing: Caretaker’s cabin within the cabin camp on the barrier island. Shared mainland housing, which includes laundry facilities, is available on Harkers Island during days off. Suitable for individual volunteers or pairs of volunteers Performs simple and routine work involved in the maintenance of grounds and facilities, the assistance of visitors, and the presentation of established programs.
Time: 40 hours per week. Housing: The historic Summer Kitchen (galley) of the U.S. Life-Saving Service Station on the eastern end of the village on the barrier island. Shared mainland housing, which includes laundry facilities, is available on Harkers Island during days off. Requires two volunteers due to the remote location of this position. Provides information services to visitors including giving talks, answering questions, operating park visitor center and bookstore, and assisting lighthouse staff. Also includes light maintenance of visitor facilities.
Time: 40 hours per week. Housing: The west bedroom on the second floor of the Lighthouse Keepers’ Quarters on the barrier island. Shared mainland housing, which includes laundry facilities, is available on Harkers Island during days off. Pony Patrol volunteers will walk the islands talking with visitors about how best to experience the beauty and natural behavior of the horses as well as answering basic questions about the horses and their natural barrier island homes.
Interested applicants must be physically able to walk the beach in a dynamic setting, consisting of sandy terrain, extreme sun, heat, humidity, wind, and buggy environments.Opportunities are available for both Shackleford Banks in Cape Lookout National Seashore and the islands within the Rachel Carson Reserve. Time: 4, four-hour shifts per month Housing: not available Short Term Volunteer OpportunitiesShort term opportunities include beach cleanups, group service projects, and annual volunteer events such as National Public Lands Day. Beach cleanups are a family-friendly way to spend time outdoors as well as help remove trash and debris from the beach and nearshore waters of the park. They are day-long events and require prior registration to take advantage of park-provided transportation to and from the barrier islands. To register for an upcoming public event or to organize a cleanup for your private group, please contact the Volunteer Coorindator.
#MYCLEANOCEAN - Did you help with a beach cleanup? Let everyone know by using the hashtag #MYCLEANOCEAN when you post your photos of the day.Learn more about the park’s My Clean Ocean beach cleanup campaign. Volunteer groups carry out a wide variety of projects. From conducting a beach clean-up or trimming vegetation along boardwalks and nature trails to adding to our knowledge of the park through citizen science, volunteer groups provide the many hands needed to greatly enhance park facilities and habitats.
National Public Lands Day (NLPD) is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands, held annually on the fourth Saturday in September. Since 1994, National Public Lands Day has brought together hundreds of thousands of volunteers to help restore America's public lands.
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Last updated: March 18, 2025