The Freshwater Project Coordinator develops, coordinates, and advances aquatic connectivity projects, including but not limited to helping municipalities install climate-resilient and fish-friendly road-stream crossing replacements. This position will contribute to building a model aquatic regional partnership in the Adirondack region of New York State that might be replicated in other geographies.
The Freshwater Project Coordinator is a three-year full-time position with the possibility of extension.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Improving aquatic connectivity and community resilience to climate change is a high conservation priority across the Adirondacks, New York State, and the Northeast. The Freshwater Project Coordinator (FPC) will work with staff to expand an existing pilot program to become a model regional partnership to improve aquatic connectivity through right-sizing road-stream crossings and related strategies in the Adirondack region of New York State. The FPC will work with municipalities to assess, prioritize, and replace undersized and vulnerable culverts with structures that allow for natural stream flow, mitigate flooding, and provide fish and wildlife passage. The FPC will develop partnerships with state and federal agencies, municipal transportation departments, conservation organizations, towns, counties, and universities. The FPC will prioritize projects using statewide data, field assessments, and community outreach; build capacity for new efforts by identifying funding opportunities and developing proposals; and provide technical expertise to partners and project management support for implementation. The FPC will coordinate information sharing on best practices, funding opportunities, and science, with local partners, and will participate in cross-site learning among practitioners focused on similar priorities across New York State and the northeastern US. The FPC will think creatively about how to scale up and leverage current efforts to improve aquatic connectivity through infrastructure redesign.
While the esstential functions of the FPC are focused on project management and implementation, the FPC will also have the opportunity to oversee and/or lead applied sicence projects for fisheries management and habitat restoration.
The description is not intended to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for this job. In addition, there may be expectations for work outside of the local business unit.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Coordinates the Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter’s aquatic connectivity projects and partnerships.
- Serves as a subject matter expert in at least one of the following: fisheries, stream hydrology, geomorphology, aquatic ecology, engineering, transportation planning and design, or similar field.
- Fosters effective partnerships with federal and state agencies, municipal transportation departments, conservation groups, citizen scientists, and other organizations to implement key strategies.
- Helps to develop and implement research and conservation strategies.
- Performs tasks with minimal supervision and makes independent decisions based on analysis, experience and context.
- Ensures program compliance with internal policies and external requirements.
- May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree and 3 years’ experience in a relevant field (for example, but not limited to, fisheries, ecology, hydrology, transportation planning, transportation design, geomorphology, science or policy) or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience building and maintaining positive working relationships with a variety of partners (e.g., state agency staff, engineers, local government officials, internal scientists, media).
- Experience managing complex projects.
- Experience completing tasks independently with respect to timeline(s).
- Excellent communication skills via written, spoken and graphical means.
- Experience using common software applications such as Word, Excel, databases, web browsers, etc.
- Must have valid driver's license and good driving record.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
- Graduate degree in a related science/management/policy field and 3-5 years’ experience.
- Experience with field methods of freshwater fisheries science; implementing and managing field studies.
- Knowledge of current trends and practices in ecology and transportation.
- Field experience (for example, but not limited to data collection, project implementation, resource management, research)
- Experience working in partnership with the transportation sector.
- Experience manipulating, analyzing, and interpreting data.
- Experience with GIS, GPS, and using handheld data collectors.
- Experience fundraising, including grant writing.
- Ability and willingness to apply science to decision-making and guide activities.