Become a Student Member – University of Alabama Museums

UA Museums Student Members volunteering during Get on Board Day.

All current UA undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for a free student membership to the University of Alabama Museums, which includes:

Unlimited admission (except for special events) to Moundville Archaeological Park, Alabama Museum of Natural History, The Gorgas House Museum, the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, and the Paul W. Bryant Museum
Discounts on Museum Programs, Field Trips, and Summer Expedition
Invitations to special student member events as well as to all of our regular supporting member events
Opportunities including coffee hours, resume building, behind-the-scenes experiences, exhibit creation, volunteering, and social media content creation

How to Sign Up

To become a Student Member, fill out this quick and easy online form!

When you sign up for Student Membership, you will be added to an email database that will keep you informed on all of our free events!

Watch the video below to learn more about the perks of being a UA Museums Student Member!

Upcoming Events

UA Student Coffee Hour

Are you a University of Alabama student, who needs a break to refuel between classes? Visit the Alabama Museum of Natural History to grab a FREE cup of coffee and snacks at our UA Museums Student Coffee Hour on April 19 at 11 AM – 12 PM! The UA Museums Student Coffee Hour will take place in the Grand Gallery (where the Basilosaurus is on display) of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, which is located in Smith Hall.

Volunteer Opportunities

Bug Room

UA Museums has opportunities for you to help feed and take care of the animals in the Bug Room at the Alabama Museum of Natural History! If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Kendra Abbott. Her email address is kabbott3@ua.edu You can also reach Kendra by calling 254-653-7300.

Watch the video below to see behind-the-scenes of the Bug Room!

The Department of Research & Collections is looking for a student to help us find new locations for rare or rarely seen dragonflies in Texas and Louisiana. We are using environmental DNA by collecting water in possible steam habitats for 10 dragonfly species. This student will help us extract DNA from the water samples and do PCRS to see if we can determine what species are at each site. It would be great if the student is in biology or a related field with some experience in the lab (biology lab, chemistry lab, etc).

If you’re interested please contact Kendra Abbott. Her email address is kabbott3@ua.edu You can also reach Kendra by calling 254-653-7300.

Alabama Museum of Natural History Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering at the Alabama Museum of Natural History is a great way to support the museum and its mission while gaining experience in program development and working with the public! Education volunteers will assist staff with school tours, K-12 programs, spring and fall museum events, summer camps, and day trips. If you’re interested, please contact Joyia Davis. Her email address is joyia.davis@ua.edu. You can also reach Joyia by calling 205-348-6383.

School and Group Tours

The museum offers guided tours to adult and student groups. No prior experience is needed. Training will be conducted by a museum educator.

K-12 Programs

Volunteers will assist staff with Spring and Fall K-12 programming. Programs are offered monthly, and help is needed with preparation and assisting on the program day.

Museum Events

Throughout the year, the museum hosts special events which require assistance during the week, weekends, and evenings. These events include Fossil Day, Haunting at the Museum, Bug Fest, and Darwin Day.

Summer Camps and Day Trips

The museum offers one week summer camps for K-8 and fossil day trips for the public. Volunteers who wish to help with these events must serve as a volunteer for a short period before working a summer camp or attending a day trip. Background checks are required.

Research and Collections Paid Opportunity

UA Museum’s Department of Research and Collections is looking for a crew of people to help with vegetation data collection in one of the coolest places in the world! We are in partnership with the Student Conservation Association and want to hire a crew and crew leader to serve from mid May until mid November. This could be the best summer and fall ever for the right group of people. The position number and brief description is listed below.

Position # PO-00733061

Participants will work with some of the world’s top evolutionary biologists to conduct a detailed census of trees in one of North America’s richest forests in the Paint Rock River Valley. The census protocol, developed in coordination with Smithsonian Institute by UCLA distinguished professor Stephen Hubbell and Chicago Field Museum’s Rick Condit, in essence creates a massive outdoor laboratory over 150 acres where the lives and fates of each tree can be followed for 50 years. Every stem bigger than a pencil is precisely geolocated, identified, measured, tagged and mapped — some 75,000 shrubs and trees in all, then re-censused every 4 to 5 years. Data derived from this census will provide important new insights into how forests assemble, why rich forests have so many rare species, how forests will survive, and how forests mitigate and are affected by climate change and human impacts. It will be the largest and most biologically rich forest dynamics plot in North America when completed.

Teams of two to three students each will work in tandem to census the plot one quadrat at a time — each quadrat being about the size of a typical house lot. Sophisticated rangefinders will be combined with tried and true survey methods to determine the location of each tree, which will be measured, numbered and tentatively identified by species. Computer data entry will be done on days when field work is not appropriate. Training all be done by Condit, Hubbell and census veterans. There will be multiple opportunities to interact with top scientists from multiple universities doing research on the site — including UCLA, universities in Alabama and Georgia, Clemson, Yale and Maine. In September, a special symposium of top scientists will feature the work done on the plot, and students will be invited to participate free of charge. Comfortable on-campus housing will be made available to students a short walk from where the research plot is located.

The work is sometimes meticulous, but rewarding and often breathtaking, and the unusual mature forests of Paint Rock give students an opportunity to experience a forest and nature in a way few others can. The Paint Rock Valley sits in the center of deciduous forest diversity and cave diversity in North America, and the Paint Rock River is a global hotspot for aquatic diversity.

Living Allowance $400 per week
Relocation Travel Allowance $1,100 (one-time)

Apply now through SCA!

Email Bill Finch <bill@finchconservation.net> with questions.

Paleontology Volunteer Opportunities

The Paleontology Collection needs photographing, digitizing, and re-housing.

If you’re interested please contact Adiel Klompmaker. His email address is aaklompmaker@ua.edu You can also reach Adiel by calling 205-348-7425.

Bryant Museum Volunteer Opportunities

The Paul W. Bryant Museum is looking for volunteers during home football games to give directions and answer general University of Alabama and Gameday questions.

If you’re interested, please contact Olivia Arnold. Her email is oarnold@ua.edu and you can reach her by calling 205-348-4668.

Content Creation Opportunities

Email brandon.s.thompson@ua.edu for UA Museums TikTok opportunities! — UA Students can help out with the UA Museums TikTok!

Do you like creating content for TikTok and social media and need video to add to a demo reel or portfolio? University of Alabama Students have opportunities to create content for and run the UA Museums TikTok account!

For more information on how to get involved, email Brandon Thompson at brandon.s.thompson@ua.edu

Have Questions?

For more information, email James Scott: jiscott@ua.edu

You can also follow and keep up with UA Museums on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.