2023 Delaware River Watershed Fellowship at The Watershed Institute
Start date: June 5-14, 2023 End date: August 18-25, 2023
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.
The Watershed Institute, a member of the Alliance for Watershed Education (AWE), is seeking to hire a Fellow from Trenton to help connect with local community members around protecting the Delaware River and its waterways.
Position Location: The fellows will work onsite at The Watershed Institute 31 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534 as well as in Trenton.
Compensation: Fellows are paid $15.50/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 14-16.) http://www.peec.org/ (Depending on Covid limitations at the time, 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 18).
– Fellows will document their progress by completing a short log report every week.
The Watershed Institute Fellow will specifically:
● Assist with the maintenance and care of the Kate Gorrie butterfly house, our rain gardens and green roof.
● Care for caterpillars and butterflies.
● Assist with educating visitors to the butterfly house and rain gardens. This includes presenting scheduled educational programs, and greeting and interacting with casual visitors to the house and gardens.
● Engage the community in the Greater Trenton Area in creating a small pollinator/native plant or rain garden.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Age 18+ by June 5, 2023 start date.
- A background in environmental education is not required.
- A positive attitude and willingness to greet visitors and start conversation with them.
- Ability to work outdoors in the summer to maintain gardens. Willingness to get your hands in the soil.
- Willingness to touch insects including caterpillars and insect predators.
- Willingness to learn, and teach about pollinators, native plants and rain gardens.
- Conversational Spanish language abilities are a plus.
- Ability to Travel to Pennington a minimum of 3 days a week – Travel compensation is available
Fellows will be working part time in Trenton, NJ. Familiarity with community groups in Trenton is a plus.
Essential dates:
- June 5, 2023: Fellow start date at The Watershed Institute (Fellows may arrange with their Supervisor to begin any time within the first week of the program.)
- June 14-16: Fellowship Orientation (overnight) at Pocono Environmental Education Center. (Meals, transportation and accommodations provided.)
- August 18: Watershed Fellowship Summit (location to be announced)
- August 25: Last day of Fellowship (Fellows may finish their term of service any time after the August 18 Summit as needed.)
How to apply:
Email a resume and cover letter to Stephanie Silva, using the title ‘AWE Fellow’ in your subject heading.
If you have any questions regarding the position, please direct them to Stephanie Silva, Watershed Educator.
Application Deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2023
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More about The Watershed Institute
The Watershed Institute is a dynamic and multifaceted nonprofit conservation organization. We work to protect and restore our water and natural environment in central New Jersey through conservation, advocacy, science, and education. From our nearly 1,000-acre nature reserve in Hopewell Township, Mercer County to locations across central New Jersey, Watershed staff and volunteers work to protect and restore our natural habitats. Our reserve hosts the LEED-Platinum Watershed Center for Environmental Advocacy, Science & Education and the Kate Gorrie Butterfly House.
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.