The Rio Grande Watershed Conservation and Education Initiative (RGWCEI) is a small non-profit that provides environmental education to K-12 youth throughout the Rio Grande watershed, within the six rural counties of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. The volunteer will work alongside and with the guidance of the Executive Director to provide quality K-12 conservation & environmental education curriculum. Tasks include creating curriculum for classroom or field based experiences, scheduling presentations and workshops, and organizing and facilitating education-based activities at events such as water festivals, youth camps, garden camps, classrooms, field trips, etc. The volunteer will work in partnership with natural resource management agencies, schools, ranchers, farmers, and others who align with the mission of RGWCEI. Skills related to preparing news releases, taking photos, and maintaining social media presence, including website maintenance, preferred. While much of the work can be done during normal weekday hours, especially during the school year, some flexibility will be needed for projects that entail evening and weekend events.
Qualifications
College degree (preferably in earth sciences, biology, or natural resource management)
Specific Skills:
- Ability to organize events with multiple partners with some supervision or guidance
- Flexibility to handle multiple projects at once
- Desire to learn about water, agricultural, and other natural resource management topics on an on-going basis
- Ability to connect with kids of all ages and from diverse cultural backgrounds
- Ability to facilitate learning activities/lessons with a variety of students/teachers
- Comfortable in both classroom and outdoor teaching environments
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Able to take direction and utilize constructive feedback
- Strong organizational and detail-oriented skills
This is a start-up position in a small non-profit. It is possible, due to limitations in funding and/or workload, that this position may be paired part-time with another environmental project in the community such as the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project.