Volunteer with Salmon Watch to Connect Students with Nature

Salmon Watch is an award-winning outdoor environmental education program founded in 1993 that brings middle and high school students outdoors to natural stream sites to witness wild salmon spawning and learn about Pacific Northwest ecology.

This season, Salmon Watch is hosting over 50 field trips with 21 schools at beautiful Pacific Northwest stream sites, getting over 1,700 students outdoors to connect with and learn about the natural world.

Field trips take place on some of our region’s most iconic rivers in Mt. Hood National Forest, the Columbia River Gorge, and the Mid-Coast Range- weekdays during September, October and November.

Four volunteer educators teach on each field trip (avg. 7:1 instructor-student ratio), facilitating the field trip learning stations: salmon biology, macroinvertebrate identification, water quality testing, and riparian observation/nature awareness.

Anyone can teach on a Salmon Watch field trip. Free training sessions in September teach new volunteers everything you need to know to facilitate the field learning stations.

The first step is to fill out our quick, online: Volunteer Educator Application

The next step is to sign up for one of our New Volunteer Training Sessions:

Saturday, September 1st and Saturday, September 15th from 9am-2pm at Dabney State Recreation Area

Please email our Program Director, Rachel, to sign up for a training: [email protected]

Once you attend a training, you will be sent a link to sign up for field trips. You’ll be able to pick the date, site, school/grade level and field station you prefer.

Teaching a field station for our middle and high school classes is fun and rewarding, and who doesn’t love spending a day on the river?

“Volunteering for Salmon Watch gives me the chance to teach young students about something that I truly love.” – Julia Bond, Salmon Watch volunteer educator

Thank you again for helping get young people outside to learn and explore, and gain an appreciation for the natural world that will stay with them throughout their lives!