Participatory Science

Join in the Smithsonian Research Mission

Two volunteers look at a clipboard while standing in the woods.

Since our founding, the Smithsonian has relied on the talents and dedication of people outside of the institution. James Smithson was a "gentleman-chemist," and our first Secretary, acclaimed scientist Joseph Henry, recruited volunteers to submit daily weather reports by telegraph, thus laying the groundwork for the National Weather Service.

Today, volunteers participate in a wide range of Smithsonian research projects, both onsite and online. Depending on your interests, you can help sustain species around the globe and even solve mysteries of the planets and stars!

Join Us Online

Smithsonian Transcription Center

Join our distinguished corps of Digital Volunteers and make the Smithsonian's vast scientific collections accessible for research and education. Our award-winning online platform offers opportunities for enthusiasts to transcribe critical data contained in specimen collection records and transcribe full text of field books and other archival materials significant to the history of science. Whether you're fascinated with botany or astronomy or the experience of women in science, you'll find meaningful projects on the Transcription Center.

Join Us in Your Region

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Opportunities on the Chesapeake Bay

Work with researchers in Edgewater, Maryland to investigate topics such as environmental archaeology, forest biodiversity, invasive species distribution, and water quality.

Surveyors stand in grassy field holding binoculars.

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Virginia Working Landscapes

Each year we train citizen scientists to monitor wildlife (birds, plants, pollinators, salamanders, mammals) throughout 15 counties in Northern Virginia.

Illustration of a gardener kneeling next to a garden bed.

National Museum of Natural History

PolliNation DC

Document the insect pollinator species utilizing plants in community gardens throughout all eight wards of Washington, D.C. and in gardens on the National Mall.