Elling Eide Center - Solo Volunteer Orientation

Activity

Generally, volunteers help the Elling Eide Center with habitat restoration and enhancement at our 72-acre bay-front nature preserve, help care for Elling's 7-acre fruit and ornamental tree arboretum, support the native plant conservation seed bank and horticulture program, or collect scientific data that further our mission. Specific activities are agreed upon between the volunteer and volunteer coordinator, following an in-person group orientation. Three types of volunteer positions are available (see below).

Orientation Schedule

9:00 - 10:00 – Classroom-setting overview of projects (indoors)

10:00 - 12:00 - Walking tour of Preserve, aboretum, and equipment (outdoors).

Volunteering Schedule

Schedules will be agreed upon between you and your volunteer coordinator. For safety, Preserve Stewardship must be completed during business hours. Citizen Science may be performed during select times outside of business hours, as mutually agreed. Program coordinator schedules vary significantly, depending on the event schedule.

Difficulty

Orientation is an easy activity.

Volunteer activities will be tailored to the capability and interest of individual volunteers.

Facilities

Yes, there is a bathroom and picnic tables onsite during business hours.

Inclement Weather

The orientation will be cancelled and rescheduled by email if there is inclement weather.

Attire

For this orientation, volunteers are required to wear closed-toe shoes. Please bring adequate water, snacks, sunglasses, hats, sunscreen, bug spray, etc, in order to be comfortable.

Questions?

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Lee Amos at or [email protected].

Preserve Steward (Most Needed)

Preserve Stewards engage in hands-on natural resource management, helping to maintain and restore the ecological health of the Eide Center's coastal habitats. This work combines conservation science with practical land stewardship, from invasive species removal to habitat enhancement projects. You'll work alongside staff and other volunteers to care for the preserve's diverse ecosystems, including maritime forests, wetlands, and upland habitats.

Citizen Scientist

Citizen Scientists contribute directly to the Eide Center's research mission by collecting data across the 72-acre preserve. Using established platforms like eBird or iNaturalist, you'll document the species that call this coastal ecosystem home, helping to build a comprehensive understanding of the preserve's ecological communities over time.

Program Coordinator (Few Positions Available)

Program Coordinators serve as a welcoming face at the Eide Center, helping to facilitate educational programs, community events, and visitor engagement at this hub for environment and humanities. You'll work directly with staff to support meaningful experiences that connect people with the preserve's natural and cultural resources.

Introduction

The Elling Eide Center is a nonprofit research library, nature preserve, and cultural retreat located on 72 acres of rare coastal habitat in Sarasota, Florida. Named after scholar and preservationist Elling Oliver Eide (1935–2012), the Center’s mission is to advance scholarly research in the humanities and environmental sciences with a particular emphasis on Asian studies. The Center houses one of the most significant private collections of East Asian literature in the United States, as well as one of the last remaining reserves of biodiversity in an increasingly urbanized Florida coastline. Our approach to scholarship, grounded in nature, provides students and scholars with unique opportunities to address critical questions at the intersection of culture, climate, and conservation.

At the heart of Elling’s vision for the Eide Center is the Eide Library, a private, independent, non-profit, non-circulating, research library. The Eide Preserve surrounds the library and grounds the collection, research, and operations in nature. Management of the Eide Preserve is guided by a Management Plan, which, when acted upon, will protect, restore, and enhance Elling’s nature preserve, with significant ecological impacts far beyond its fences and shoreline.

Eide Center Mission

Our mission is to advance scholarly research in the humanities and environmental sciences with a particular emphasis on Asian studies.

Eide Center Vision

Our vision is to leverage the unique strengths of our natural setting and advance interdisciplinary research in new ways to benefit scholarly communities worldwide.

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