2021 Delaware River Watershed Fellowship with Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, Inc. at Tacony Creek Park
Start date: June 7-16, 2021 End date: August 20-27, 2021 (Start and end dates are flexible)
The Delaware River Watershed Fellowship is a 12-week, paid summer job opportunity designed to introduce young people from local communities to careers in environmental education. Fellows are hired at one of 23 environmental education centers across the Delaware River Watershed. Fellows participate in training sessions to help prepare them for a summer of helping people connect with nature and informing their local communities about issues affecting the Delaware River, the source of drinking water for 13 million people living in the region.
Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF), a member of the Alliance for Watershed Education (AWE), is seeking to hire a Fellow from the Greater Philadelphia area to connect with local community members around protecting the Delaware River and its waterways.
Position Location: TTF is located at the Globe Dye Works in Frankford, 4500 Worth St. Philadelphia PA 19124. The Fellow will spend much of their time in and around Tacony Creek Park, in lower Northeast Philadelphia. Remote work can be done from home or our office.
Compensation: Fellows are paid $15/hr, 35-40 hours a week over the summer.
Duties:
- Fellows will participate in a 3-day watershed education training at the Pocono Environmental Education Center (overnight, June 16-18.) (Depending on COVID limitations some or all of this training may take place virtually.)
- Fellows will help their host Center lead programs and activities, whether in-person or virtually, for community members and visitors to their site.
- Fellows will attend virtual webinars as well as in-person meetings with Fellows from other AWE Centers.
- Fellows will be paired with mentors from AWE Centers as well as past Fellowship alumni. Fellows will check in with their mentors twice a month.
- With guidance from their supervisor and mentors, Fellows will focus their efforts on a specific Capstone Project and present their work at the end-of-program Summit event (August 20).
- Fellows will document their progress by completing a short log report every week.
The TTF Fellow will specifically:
- Work with staff to carry out community engagement for Tacony Creek Park’s Master Plan. During this 2-year process we will collect public input and recommendations on the future of Tacony Creek Park. It’s an exciting opportunity to shape the future of the park!
- Brainstorm and develop ways to engage communities traditionally underserved by park resources.
- Talk to trail users in and around Tacony Creek Park to gauge attitudes towards the park and opportunities, and provide materials such as trail maps and bird guides.
- Phonebank to residents and businesses.
- Canvass neighborhood residents and local businesses near the Park.
- Work with staff to develop and conduct surveys, focus groups, or other community outreach programs.
- Communicate with partner organizations on planning and implementation of outreach.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Age 18+ by June 7, 2021 start date.
- Background in environmental education is not required.
- Candidates conversational in Spanish or Vietnamese are highly encouraged to apply.
- Familiarity with the Lower Northeast and Tacony Creek Park preferred.
- Philadelphia resident is highly preferred, especially from the neighborhoods around Tacony Creek Park.
- Interest in or experience with communications and/or community engagement.
- Comfortable greeting park visitors and willingness to start conversations with strangers.
- Comfortable working outdoors and in public spaces. (We practice social distancing protocols at all events.)
- Some evening and weekend hours required.
TTF is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. BIPOC, women, working class people, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/gender non-conforming, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Essential dates:
June 7-16, 2021: Fellow start date at TTF. (Fellows may arrange with their Supervisor to begin any time within the first week of the program.)
June 16-18: Required Watershed Stewardship Training (overnight) at Pocono Environmental Education Center. (Meals, transportation and accommodations provided.)
August 20: Watershed Fellowship Summit (location to be announced).
August 27: Last day of Fellowship (Fellows may finish their term of service anytime after the August 20 Summit as needed.)
How to apply:
Email a resume and brief letter of interest to: Susan@ttfwatershed.org. Please email any questions!
Supervisor: Susan Sunhee Volz
Supervisor title: Philadelphia Community Organizer
Application Deadline: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
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More about Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership
The Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) connects watershed residents and communities to our creeks. Our mission is to improve the health and vitality of our impaired 30 square mile creek and watershed — which includes neighborhoods in North, Northeast, and Northwest Philadelphia and Abington, Cheltenham, Jenkintown, Rockledge, and Springfield in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania — by engaging our communities in education, stewardship, restoration, and advocacy. Working closely with our communities, we support the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters 25-year plan to protect our watershed by managing storm water with innovative green infrastructure. We implement and encourage these same strategies with partners in our upstream communities.
More about the Alliance for Watershed Education
Organized in 2016, the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River is a regional initiative of twenty-three partnering environmental education centers, funded and supported by the William Penn Foundation. Each of these centers is located along the Circuit Trail or a major connecting trail, and on waterways throughout the Delaware River Watershed in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
This position is made possible through the support of the William Penn Foundation.