OSAC has several ways in which a person can be affiliated with the museum. The collection benefits immensely each year from the time and contributions of our many volunteers and associates.
Volunteers -- volunteers are individuals who work on a regular basis on museum projects, but who are not part of our paid staff. They may be scientists, collectors or members of the public who are interested in insects and/or natural history museums. Typically volunteers work on curatorial or managerial projects related to cataloging and curating the collection; however volunteers with training in entomology may also help with more technical aspects of the museum. Volunteers must work in the collection between the normal operating hours of the museum (M-F, 9-5) and are generally expected to work at least 8 hours each month to maintain their volunteer status. Volunteers at the OSAC must be at least 16 years of age.
Museum Associates -- museum associates are researchers who have a research project that regularly relies on, or contributes to, the holdings of the OSAC. Museum associate status is granted on an annual basis, and generally renewed as long as the research project is active and there is a continued need to access the holdings.
Curatorial Associates -- curatorial associates are a particular type of museum associate and are generally trained taxonomists who actively curate sections of the collection. They may be physically at the OSAC, or may interact with our holdings from their home institutions, via loans or our digital catalog. Curatorial associates assist the curatorial staff in verifying the determinations and correct nomenclature associated with the specimens. They also assist in physically arranging the collection to best reflect the needs of the researchers.