Become a Fossil Volunteer!

Fort Negley Park seeks long-term volunteers to conduct public programs and field trip activities associated with its fossil interpretation. Fort Negley Park holds a monthly fossil program and conducts scheduled field trips. If you enjoy geology, paleontology, and spreading earth sciences literacy then you should become a volunteer. We’ll train you on everything needed to help with fossil activities.

Historic Fort Negley is a Civil War era Union fortification built by free, impressed, and enslaved laborers to defend the city’s transportation network critical to the Federal Army’s war goals. The fort is built of stone cut from the limestone bedrock that makes up the hill it is built upon. Present in the limestone are the Ordovician period fossilized remains of marine life that dominated Nashville’s underwater landscape 450 million years ago. Fort Negley Park’s educational fossil programs provide insight into Nashville’s ancient marine landscape, how our landscape formed and what limitations it creates today, where dinosaur fossils are found in Tennessee, where important events fall on Earth’s timeline, and more. At the center of the fossil program is a dedicated fossil pile set aside for visitor exploration.

Fossil volunteer shifts take place in the morning, Tuesday through Saturday. Volunteers will go through training and will shadow existing volunteers before leading activities for students and families.

Opportunities to serve include:

• Leading activities as visitors express interest during monthly Saturday morning Fossil Finders public program.
• Leading an activity on a timed rotation for elementary students during weekday scheduled field trips.

For more information contact Fort Negley Park at [email protected] or 615-862-8470.