The High Desert Museum, just south of Bend, is the largest cultural institution in Central and Eastern Oregon and the only museum in the nation devoted to North America's High Desert. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers support nearly every part of the Museum, from staffing exhibits and leading hands-on activities for visitors to helping school groups on field trips, assisting at Admissions, and interpreting living history and natural history at various sites. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)Oregon Health Plan Hours
High Desert Robotics & Rotors Expositions (HDRex), a program of Connect Central Oregon, inspires the next generation of Central Oregon leaders through hands-on robotics and drone experiences. Read more ›
Who can volunteerGroupsCorporate / Workplace GroupsSchool GroupsAdolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)
A volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages who measure and report daily rain, hail, and snow. Started in 1998 at the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University, it is sponsored by NOAA, the National Weather Service, and the National Science Foundation. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeCitizen science from home: measuring daily precipitation, snow, and hail with a standard 4-inch rain gauge and reporting it online or in the mobile app, about five minutes a day. Read more ›
Who can volunteerFamiliesSchool GroupsChildren (3–9)Preteens (10–12)Adolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)From Home / Remote
Portland's amateur astronomy club, active since about 1988 and based at OMSI. Members share telescopes, a lending library, a Discord community and a members' dark sky site, and the club runs public outreach star parties, youth astronomy awards and a light pollution school curriculum. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeMembers volunteer at public outreach events, sharing their telescopes and the night sky with the public at star parties, schools and community events. Most outreach events start at dusk and run two to three hours. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
A public-private partnership in which private citizens and ham radio operators share live data from their own personal weather stations. The data is quality-checked by NOAA's Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) and used by the National Weather Service, emergency managers, wildland firefighters, and universities. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeCitizen science from home for people with a personal weather station: registering the station and sharing its readings automatically over the internet, with feedback to help improve data quality. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)From Home / Remote
A public night sky observatory run by Worthy Garden Club in the third-floor dome at Worthy Brewing on Bend's east side, and the only professional observatory within Bend's city limits. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteering at the Hopservatory runs through Worthy Garden Club. Sign up on the club's volunteer interest form to hear about opportunities across its programs, including its dark skies and astronomy education work alongside garden and land stewardship.
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
The Oregon High Desert Grotto is Central Oregon's caving club, a Bend-based chapter of the National Speleological Society founded in 1989. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers and members help protect Central Oregon's caves through cleanups and graffiti removal, cave surveying and mapping, and photo documentation, often alongside land managers and local partners. Read more ›
Who can volunteerGroupsAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
A statewide nonprofit working to preserve Oregon's dark skies and reduce light pollution through advocacy, education, and monitoring, supporting Dark Sky community certifications like Sisters and the Oregon Outback.
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers help measure and track light pollution using sky quality meters across Oregon, advocate for local lighting ordinances, and support outreach and education efforts on responsible outdoor lighting.
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
The Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory has inspired visitors to cherish and understand the natural world for more than 50 years. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers work in animal care, education, grounds and landscaping of the center's 8 acres around Lake Aspen, visitor services, observatory programs, the Second Tern thrift store, and administration. Read more ›
Who can volunteerFamiliesPreteens (10–12)Adolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)Oregon Health Plan Hours
Sunriver-based nonprofit that educates, mentors, and inspires girls ages 13–18 to build personal and professional skills as entrepreneurs and innovators in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers mentor teams of girls and young women through STEAM business challenges, share their careers as monthly expert speakers, coach on leadership, finance, and pitching, and help run events, many of them held virtually so you can mentor from anywhere. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)
A Sunriver-based educational nonprofit whose mission is to bring the sights and science of the cosmos to schools and the wider community through astronomy, rocketry, and science education. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeCARA is volunteer-run, so getting involved means pitching in alongside its founders: helping at school and community astronomy and rocketry programs, assisting with telescope viewing and solar observing at outreach… Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
The Airshow of the Cascades is a two-day aviation festival at the Madras Municipal Airport each August, drawing about 20,000 people for precision jet teams, aerobatics, historic warbirds from the Erickson Aircraft Collection, a car show, live music, and family activities. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeAbout 300 volunteers make the airshow happen each year, and many return year after year. Read more ›
Who can volunteerGroupsAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)