Could you be a Pliosaurus volunteer?

Bristol Museums has a proud history of community engagement and a big part of this comes from our wide range of volunteering opportunities.

Volunteers regularly get involved across all our sites and play a vital role in caring for our vast collections, inspiring our visitors, and encouraging learning and enjoyment.

This summer brings a very special volunteering opportunity as we open our latest exhibition: Pliosaurus! Face to face with a Jurassic beast (17 June 2017 – 7 January 2018).

We’re currently looking for volunteers that are available to come in one day each week to get involved with our interactive exhibition that takes visitors back 150 million years to when Bristol was a Jurassic ocean ruled by the apex predator, the pliosaur (Pliosaurus carpenteri).

With a focus on interactive and fun learning, volunteers will engage visitors with the story of our very own pliosaur, Doris.

Doris was discovered by local fossil hunter, Simon Carpenter and was recently named a completely new species Pliosaurus carpenteri. Volunteers will take visitors on a journey of discovery as we learn all about Doris’ life and how she got to where she is today.

The exhibition includes:

• A time portal taking visitors back to Bristol 150 million years ago
• A full-scale (8-metres long!) interactive model of our Pliosaurus carpenteri, Doris. She’s alive, complete with heartbeat, smelly breath and injuries to investigate.
• One of the largest and most complete pliosaur fossils in the world.
• Six satellite learning stations to discover how our pliosaur lived and died, including the skills and techniques used by palaeontologists throughout the process.

There’s no need to be an expert in the area. Our volunteers have a variety of backgrounds, from students looking for experience, retirees looking to try something different, or anyone just wanting to get involved with community initiatives and cultural learning.

It’s a great way to meet friendly and passionate people, learn new skills, further your knowledge, give something back to the community, and it looks great on your CV too!

To register your interest, or for more information about this new volunteer role, visit our Jobs and Volunteering page or email [email protected].