MN State Fair: Wildlife Wing

Share your passion and knowledge of wildlife in the Wildlife Wing of DNR Building

Benefits to volunteering:

Receive one admission ticket to the MN State Fair for each day you volunteer. 

Duties:

• Provide interpretation of the mounted animals and other features to the public.
• Answer questions from the public and provide general directions at the fair.
• Represent the DNR in a positive fashion. 

Restrictions:

• Avoid expressing personal opinions or views.
  
• You are not expected to be knowledgeable in all areas concerning the DNR. All questions related to DNR policies and procedures are to be referred to DNR staff located outside the State Fair DNR building or to the DNR Information Line at 1-888-646-6367 or (651) 296-6157.

Qualifications Desired:

• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• Interested in animals and able to communicate with the public verbally.
• Physically able to stand or sit in a non-air-conditioned area.
• Master Naturalist certification or natural resources related degree is preferred but not required.
  
• You must pass a criminal background check to work at the fair.

Time Commitment:

• At least one 3-hour shift during the MN State Fair
• Volunteers may sign up for more than one shift.

Training:

• Training is not provided because all animal mounts are set up immediately before the fair opens, but an animal list is available upon request. 
• Binder/field guides with animal information are also available for reference at the site.

State Fair Safety Training:

• All volunteers must complete an online safety training quiz to be eligible to work at the Minnesota State Fair. 
• A link to the survey quiz will be emailed to you.

Sign up:

• Complete the online application.
• Once you have created an account in the system, you will see the available shifts and will be able to sign up for one. Shifts go all the way to September 1st; you may need to click the “get more shifts” button to see them or you can use the “Filter” feature to filter by available shifts. Only 10 of the 48 shifts are shown below as an example.
  
• Please note that this application will time out after 30 minutes of no activity.
• You will receive more information and confirmation of your schedule later.
• Remember, you may sign up for more than 1 shift.
• For more information, contact Wendy Lee, Fish and Wildlife Division, at 651-322-4643 or email wendy.lee@state.mn.us