Volunteer With Us — Join the Observatory & RADAR
The Observatory is a free wiki encyclopedia and life guide offered to the public. Readers rely on our research and analysis of important issues of our time, produced by a network of partner experts and organizations. Volunteers are essential to this public-education mission.
The Observatory offers three complementary volunteer tracks:
— RADAR identifies timely research opportunities in its focus areas and turns them into verified, useful knowledge for the people who can use it — event organizers, speakers, educators, advocates, and experts. RADAR is in a pilot phase now: some ways to help are open today, and more roles will open as the system develops.
— the research and editorial team behind Observatory projects across all subject areas: research editors, expert contributors, and contributing researchers. These roles serve RADAR's animal-and-environment work and every other Observatory project, including the Library.
— our classic editorial and research roles: Contributing Editors, Proofreaders, and Guides & Reference Summaries Writers, who identify, shape, and produce the Observatory's original content, Guides, and reference material.
RADAR is an Observatory research program. Its current primary focus is animals and the environment — animal rights, animal welfare, wildlife, biodiversity, conservation, companion animals, food systems, climate, pollution, habitat, environmental justice, and related public-interest issues — with an additional pilot lane exploring AI and technology.
Its premise: when people gather — for a conference, webinar, workshop, lecture, public meeting, hearing, campaign, or community event — they are telling us what matters to them right now. RADAR volunteers listen for those gatherings, determine where Observatory research could genuinely help, and build small, verified, useful contributions that reach the field while they can still matter.
One governing principle:
Find where people are gathering. Learn what knowledge could help them. Give volunteers a meaningful reason and deadline to build it. Put that knowledge into the field while it can matter. Listen to what comes back. Preserve what is worth knowing.
We commission work only when it serves a real need — a clear recipient, a plausible use, enough time, and something genuinely useful to add. When we have nothing useful to add, doing nothing is the right outcome.
RADAR is currently in a pilot phase: a small team is testing the method across RADAR's current focus areas before roles open more broadly. A few volunteer opportunities are available now, and more will open as the pilot develops.
Because RADAR is in pilot, most of the roles below will open to volunteers as the system develops. If one appeals to you, tell us in your application and we will be in touch when it opens. The role available for RADAR support today is Contributing Researcher (see the Research Department section below).
Signal Scouts help RADAR find and confirm the events and gatherings where Observatory research could be useful — conferences, webinars, lectures, workshops, public meetings, hearings, and campaigns related to animals, wildlife, conservation, climate, and environmental justice. Scouts check basic facts (organizer, date, place, subject, source) and pass what they find to the RADAR team for assessment.
Good for: people who like staying current on what's happening in the field; casual or steady time commitments; a low-barrier way to contribute from anywhere. Role status: opening as RADAR develops.
The core RADAR role. Research Volunteers take on a specific opportunity — usually an event or gathering — and carry it from initial research through to a finished, approved brief. The work includes:
- understanding the event, its organizers, speakers, and audience
- identifying what knowledge would actually help the people involved
- researching and verifying sources and claims
- preparing a concise, one-page research brief — the RADAR Intelligence Brief — with findings, sources, and limitations, and nothing that does not earn its place
- responding to editorial review
- with approval, sending the finished brief to the intended recipient and following up
RADAR work suits people with genuine interest in animals and/or environmental issues. It depends on curiosity, judgment, persistence, and sensitivity to what people in the field already know and what might genuinely help them. You don't need to be an expert — you do need to care about the subject and want to get the details right.
We value judgment over volume. Role status: opening as RADAR develops.
Before any brief goes out, an independent reviewer checks it. Editors review the work of Research Volunteers — accuracy, sourcing, tone, and usefulness — and catch weak claims, poor sourcing, or a mismatch between a brief and its audience before anything represents the Observatory in the field. Editors do not do the research themselves.
Both editorial and subject expertise are valuable: journalists, editors, and researchers, as well as professionals with relevant field knowledge — veterinarians, scientists, wildlife and animal-welfare professionals, climate and environmental specialists, and communications professionals. Role status: opening as RADAR develops.
The Research Department serves all Observatory subject areas, including RADAR's animal-and-environment work. Contributing Researcher is open to volunteers now; Research Editor and Expert Contributor will open as the department develops.
Help edit the research department's work, starting with the intelligence briefs it produces for RADAR. Research Editors take research findings and shape them into clean, accurate, useful public knowledge — checking accuracy, sourcing, tone, and clarity, and working with researchers to uphold Observatory standards. A good fit for editors, journalists, and researchers who want to strengthen research rather than lead projects. Role status: opening as the Research Department develops.
Professionals, academics, and practitioners who lend their field expertise to Observatory projects. Expert Contributors:
- vet claims and sources in their area of expertise
- write or co-write expert explanations, briefings, and background notes
- advise on projects and answer targeted questions from researchers
- serve as credible, quotable voices in Observatory output
If you're a scientist, veterinarian, lawyer, educator, advocate, or other professional — in animals, environment, conservation, climate, food systems, or any other subject the Observatory covers — your expertise is a direct contribution. Role status: opening as the Research Department develops.
Support Observatory research through bounded, well-defined assignments — the main way to help RADAR while it is in pilot. Contributing Researchers take on scoped tasks such as verifying sources, checking statistics, dates, and attributions, gathering background on an event, its speakers, or its topic, and organizing findings for editors. Some of this work supports the RADAR pilot team; the same research skills also support other Observatory projects, including Library articles and Guides.
Assignments are scoped in advance, so you know what is asked, how long it should take, and who reviews it.
Ideal for: people who enjoy digging into a question and getting the details right — students, early-career researchers, librarians, data analysts, and anyone with strong research habits. Role status: open now.
The Observatory also seeks volunteer Contributing Editors, Proofreaders, and Guides & Reference Summaries Writers to join our editorial team in identifying, shaping, and producing original content. (Contributing Researchers now sit in the Research Department section above — they serve all tracks.) The role is remote and online, with an ongoing, flexible commitment of about 3–5 hours per week. Credit is available for students (mention it in your application's cover letter).
Contributing Editors provide editorial oversight and collaborate with the Observatory editorial team to create and publish high-quality content that aligns with the mission and standards. Guides & Reference Summaries Writers identify useful references and guides for everyday life questions for Observatory audiences.
- A shared commitment to free public education
- Genuine interest in the subject area of your work
- Intellectual honesty: check your sources, record what you actually accessed, and say only what the evidence supports
- Judgment and independence: flag questions rather than guess; don't smooth over uncertainty
- Ability to work collaboratively in a remote team environment (meetings are held virtually)
- Comfort with Google Documents and Google Sheets, web sources, and basic citation
- Editorial, research, or academic experience (for editor, reviewer, and researcher roles)
- Reliability: RADAR assignments are time-sensitive and run on clear deadlines
Library track: ongoing and flexible, about 3–5 hours per week.
RADAR track: assignment-based and bounded. During the pilot, work typically runs 2–3 hours per week for the length of an assignment (usually a few weeks). As more roles open, each will carry its own posted commitment.
Research Department track: flexible. Contributing Researchers take bounded assignments — typically a few hours per week while an assignment is active; editors and expert contributors serve on a per-assignment or advisory basis. Student credit is available; mention it in your cover letter.
Use the Volunteer Application Form, or send a brief cover letter and résumé to info@observatory.wiki.
Tell us:
- which track you're drawn to (RADAR, Research Department, Library, or any combination); and
- which role: Contributing Researcher, Contributing Editor, Proofreader, or Guides & Reference Summaries Writer — and, if you are interested in a role that is still opening (Signal Scout, Research Volunteer, RADAR Editor / Expert Reviewer, Research Editor, or Expert Contributor), name it and we will be in touch when it opens.
If you have a subject passion — animal rights, wildlife, conservation, climate, food systems, environmental justice, AI and technology — name it. We match volunteers with work they'll actually care about.
We look forward to hearing from you.