Overview

The seasonal naturalist will work closely with the education team to support and promote AWCC’s mission and provide quality educational programming to students and guests of all ages.  This position will offer 3 driving tours 3-5 days a week, present daily talks and tours as needed.  They will also facilitate opportunistic, casual and formal interpretation at AWCC.

Along with these primary duties the naturalist seasonal will have opportunities to train and grow interpretive, educational and animal care skills.  Through all duties this person is responsible for ensuring that guests, volunteers, students, and partners visiting or participating in AWCC programs are engaged in activities that will educate and inspire.

Title: Naturalist -Seasonal
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Minimum Length: 12 Weeks
Reports to: Lily Grbavach, Director of Education
Category: Full-time, Seasonal, Paid
Start Date: May 18, 2020 (possibility to start earlier)
End Date: September 15, 2020

Position Duties:

Free Driving Tours

  • The seasonal naturalist will be responsible for offering 3 free driving tours 3-5 days out of the week. The tour given will follow the outline provided by the director of education and education specialist
  • Build interpretive materials to give guests a clear view of the mission and objectives of AWCC along with interesting and relevant information about our animals, local ecology, geology of the area, geography, and history of Portage Valley
  • Maintain a clean tour bus
  • Facilitate positive guests experience, answer and give direction even when not relevant to the current program

Interpretation and Education

  • Give on-site programs including walking tours, walk on the wild side tours, animal presentations, daily talks, animal encounters, step on guides, service learning, and other programs as assigned

Sanctuary presentability and safety

  • Assist in the upkeep of the garden beds
  • Work with service-learning groups on value adding projects including enclosure cleans, removal of invasive plants, and other projects as assigned
  • Facility clean up, may include picking up trash, removing invasive plants, cleaning interpretive materials, and other tasks as needed 

Animal Care

  • Train with animal care staff to care for ferrets, porcupine, sitka black tailed deer, moose, and other animals as needed, and after completing new staff training
  • Demonstrate knowledge of health, care, behavior, and handling of wildlife
  • Be comfortable working around animals in human care

Additional Requirements

  • Provide quality customer service and be available to help other staff offer quality customer service, politely and educationally hold guests to expectations, and help diffuse negative experiences
  • Workdays and hours assigned by the director of education will vary by week; full 40 hours 5 days per week, maximum 8 hours per day
    • Needs will include early morning, evening, night, weekend and holiday hours. Ability to work a flexible schedule is a must
  • Ensures and helps create a productive, fun and positive work environment
  • Sustain a strong commitment to teamwork and communication at AWCC
  • Work proactively on all duties assigned to meet deadlines and build program resources in a timely manner
  • Public speaking to large and small audiences while professionally representing AWCC
  • Work in a team environment to help achieve AWCC’s goals and objectives
  • Exemplify a positive and respectful attitude and strong work ethic
  • Open to participating in fun sometimes silly group and team building activities
  • Ability to walk for long hours over uneven terrain providing interpretive talks and information
  • Ability to work outside in drastically changing weather environments; it will snow, pour rain, and be hot
  • Ability to work front line directly with the public providing information and assistance as needed
  • Willingness to learn areas of interest to visitors including local history, geography, geology, and more
  • Strong communication skills
  • Perform other duties as assigned

Additional qualifications considered:

  • Some college or graduate coursework in a related field. Some examples may include: Education, Interpretation, Wildlife Biology, Environmental studies, Natural Resources, Zoological Sciences, Ecology, Animal Science, or other related topics of interest
  • Rabies vaccine: depending on the animals in our care at the time of the internship having this vaccination may lead to more animal care opportunities

Area Specifics and Housing:

  • Housing is not included for this program but is available onsite. Each shared room offers a bed, linens, towels, and shared bathroom and kitchen areas with other seasonal staff
    • Rent is $325/month and, if utilized, will be deducted automatically from each paycheck
  • Onsite staff have access to AWCC vehicle for grocery trips to staff with valid driver’s license and good driving record. Food is not provided throughout the summer
  • Portage, Alaska is located 45 miles southeast of Anchorage, and 10 miles past Girdwood, a small ski-town. There is one small grocery store in Girdwood, Anchorage has typical city amenities.
  • This position does have uniform requirements, and there is specific clothing/gear you will need to have to be comfortable working outside in highly variable weather, such as rain gear.
  • AWCC is surrounded by beautiful scenic mountains, as well as the ocean, rivers, and glaciers