The Manatee Viewing Center’s docents (volunteer educators) help educate thousands of center visitors each season about the Florida manatee, coastal vegetation and bird and fish habitats. The docent’s primary responsibility is to greet and interact with visitors and school groups on behalf of Tampa Electric to promote environmental stewardship.
Docents are teachers, leading guided tours to our visitors. At the Manatee Viewing Center, there are opportunities to share with visitors information about the endangered manatee as well as the diverse plant life and amazing wildlife that inhabit Florida’s coastal habitats and Tampa Bay waters. Many of our docents have volunteered for over eight years, returning season after season. Volunteering for the Manatee Viewing Center is truly a rewarding experience for you and for the visitors!
If you are age 18 or older and would like to volunteer as a docent, the Manatee Viewing Center will provide you with training materials you need to answer questions such as:
We ask that docents commit at least one day a week for three hours for the duration of the center’s open season, from November 1 through April 15. During that time, the Manatee Viewing Center is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Note: the center is closed Thanksgiving, at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Easter.
If you are interested in volunteering and becoming a docent, contact the center via e-mail at this page (select Manatee Viewing Center in the pull-down box) or call the center’s automated phone line at 813-630-7211 and leave your contact information.
If talking to the public does not interest you, there are other volunteer opportunities available. We need volunteers to assist in caring for and maintaining the center’s butterfly gardens and our Florida-friendly demonstration gardens. We have beautiful gardens just waiting for you!
