This short-term, full-time summer position provides hands-on exposure to all aspects of the Adirondack Chapter’s work, both in the field and in our office in Keene Valley, NY, in the heart of the Adirondack Park. We seek a motivated self-starter with a strong interest in communications and environmental conservation.
Areas of Responsibility:
The Adirondack Conservation Associate will work on projects as assigned in the areas of communications and marketing, conservation science, threat abatement, land protection and stewardship, and fundraising:
- Lead Project – Conservation Communications: The Associate will facilitate opportunities for local residents and visitors to get outside, learn about, and explore nature at one or more of our nature preserves by assisting with research and content creation for print and online, and with developing and writing interpretation/education materials and identifying communication platforms. The Associate will work on a variety of writing/editing, content creation and research assignments, and possibly social media. S/he will work with partners on ongoing trail construction and signage installation at a nature preserve. Also, the Associate will assist with modernizing land protection recordkeeping, and with organizing and archiving our photographic images. (~4-5 weeks)
- Threat Abatement: Assist the Terrestrial and Aquatic Invasive Species Project Coordinators with invasive species prevention, control, monitoring, and data processing as well as public education and outreach throughout the Adirondack region. (~1-2 weeks)
- Communications: Assist the Director of Communications and Community Engagement with preparing outreach, educational, marketing and other materials for various audiences, including donors, partners and the media. (~1-2 weeks)
- Stewardship: Assist stewardship staff with various aspects of preserve and conservation easement stewardship activities. Tasks might include: compiling and synthesizing visitor data; boundary and trail maintenance work; and recordkeeping. (~1 week)
- Fundraising: Assist Philanthropy staff with all aspects of trips and special events, including logistics, donor relations, and producing informational materials. (~1 week)
- Land Protection: Assist the Land Protection Manager with various aspects of land protection, such as public records research and assisting with select projects, including field evaluation of candidate sites. (~1-2 weeks)
- Conservation Science: Assist science staff with research in the Adirondacks, which may include: ongoing terrestrial and aquatic connectivity research; ecological assessment field work; literature reviews, or other projects both in the office and in the field. (~1-2 weeks)
- General: In addition to the listed duties, there might be clerical and other work as needed to support priorities or special projects that can benefit from the Associate’s skills and interests. Work will be both in the office and in the field. The Associate will work closely with many members of the staff. The successful candidate is expected to work independently as well as with colleagues, members and donors, volunteers, partners and the public. Field work will be in all sorts of weather, sometimes in remote locations with rugged terrain.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Maintain project records.
- May interact with members of the public, contractors, partners, and donors.
- May purchase equipment and supplies as provided for in budget.
- Makes day-to-day decisions as delegated by supervisor and may work under close or infrequent supervision.
- Opportunity to work independently on assigned tasks.
- May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, in hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.
Educational Background:
Minimum level of education completed by the beginning of summer, 2019: Associates Degree or college sophomore or equivalent combination of education and 6 months’ experience.
Skills/Experience:
- Drivers’ license.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
- Enrolled in an undergraduate program, graduate program, or a recent graduate of Business, Communication, Conservation, Environmental Studies, English, Natural Resource Management, Marketing or related field, or equivalent; coursework in communications, writing, ecology, and/or natural resource management helpful.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience researching, writing, editing, especially promotional or educational materials,
- Demonstrated interest in conservation issues,
- Enthusiastic can-do attitude; well-organized,
- Motivated self-starter, able to work independently with minimal direction,
- Enjoys working outdoors, sometimes in adverse weather conditions,
- Experience using common software applications such as Word, Excel, web browsers, etc.; experience with Adobe software such as Lightroom helpful.
Compensation/Benefits:
- $17.70/hr, 35-hour work week, generally Mondays through Fridays. Some days, particularly those in remote field locations, will be longer than 7 hours.
Additional Information:
- May-September, 2019, 10-14 weeks total. Preference given to applicants who can work for a longer period.
- Housing is not provided, but we are happy to assist the successful applicant in finding local housing.
- No phone calls or emails please.
Job Function:
Organization Info
Listing Stats
Post Date:
Jan 14 2019
Active Until:
Feb 14 2019
Hiring Organization:
Nature Conservancy
industry:
Nonprofit