Maryland Rivers & Streams Environmental Education Program Assistant Manager/Educator

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation seeks a Maryland Rivers & Streams Environmental Education Program Assistant Manager/Educator in the Education Department to be field based in central Maryland and throughout the lower Eastern Shore.

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION

Established in 1967, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is the largest regional nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to saving the Chesapeake Bay, its rivers and streams, and the wildlife that call it home through education, advocacy, litigation, and restoration. Since 2010, CBF has engaged in a focused effort to defend and implement the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, a binding federal and state collaborative agreement aimed at reducing pollution to the science-based, legally-affirmed levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Blueprint is expected to be fully implemented by 2025. If the states and the federal government achieve Blueprint goals, the Bay will finally—after decades of failed efforts—be removed from the Clean Water Act’s impaired waters list. Successfully implementing the Blueprint depends on a well-informed, engaged, active, and diverse constituency of members, advocates, and volunteers who speak up and take action to save the Bay.

CBF has a staff of approximately 210 employees working in offices in Annapolis, Maryland; Richmond and Virginia Beach, Virginia; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Washington, D.C. as well as 15 field education program locations. Our staff and volunteer corps work throughout the region educating students and adults, advocating for clean water policies, restoring waterways, and litigating when necessary. 

CBF's headquarters office in Annapolis, Maryland is the Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the world’s first U.S. Green Build Council’s LEED platinum building. In 2014, CBF opened the Brock Environmental Center—one of the world’s most energy efficient, environmentally smart buildings—in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

CBF has an annual budget of approximately $30 million and is supported by over 300,000 members and e-subscribers. For more information on CBF, please visit cbf.org.

DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION

Environmental Protection and Restoration

CBF’s Environmental Protection and Restoration department defends and restores the Chesapeake Bay by protecting the Bay’s natural resources from pollution and other harmful activities by fighting for strong and effective laws and regu­lations; restoring the Bay’s essential habitats and filtering mechanisms; and involving citizens in CBF’s environmental efforts by recruiting, training, and incorporating them as effective partners and leaders.

CONTEXT OF THE POSITION

The Maryland Rivers & Streams Environmental Education program provides one-day field investigations for students and teachers. These field investigations will include stream-based surveys or canoe-based river investigations that are designed to provide participants with the opportunity to investigate and explore Maryland’s local waterways and learn about its connection to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Participants learn about water quality and the effects that pollution and land use have on the Bay’s tributaries. The field-based investigations provide students with the opportunity to conduct biological and chemical tests and discover how they can take action to help preserve and restore their local watershed. This mobile program explores the rivers & creeks of Maryland using different canoe and/or stream sites to reach students in their local watersheds. The program staff travel extensively throughout central Maryland and to the lower eastern shore to canoe or conduct stream investigations on some of the most scenic tributaries in the watershed. This position requires the ability to work with a changing work schedule/time due to the varied work sites and travel.

Essential functions include:

1. Professionally serve as an Educator on the Maryland Rivers & Streams Environmental Education Program and other CBF field programs

 a. Work with the program manager to develop and teach one-day inquiry-based field programs using multiple field-based methods such as conducting biological sampling, water quality testing, and canoe-based activities for middle and high school students, teachers, and other participants

 b. Continually adapt program content based upon grade/age level of the group, weather, group dynamics, and feedback/evaluations from teachers/supervisors

 c. Ability to communicate ecosystem and watershed concepts to a wide range of audiences

 d. Plan & execute summer courses for Chesapeake Classrooms Teacher Professional Development and/or Student Leadership Program

1. Safely and professionally serve as a field leader for the Maryland Rivers & Streams Environmental Education Program, and other CBF programs

 a. Ability to communicate safety instructions and rudimentary canoe skills to all participants

 b. Program staff are responsible for the safety of all field participants, ensure that all safety protocols are rigorously followed, and are required to respond to medical emergencies that may arise

 c. Program staff are responsible and accountable for performing maintenance to keep all education related equipment and gear (work truck, canoe trailer, canoes, education materials) in proper working order

 d. Attend all safety and professional development trainings

1. Consistent ability to perform required programmatic administrative duties
2. Other duties as assigned

PREFERRED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Successful Candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant experience
• 1+ years’ experience teaching in either a formal or non-formal setting
• Experience canoeing on both flat and moving water
• ACA certified, preferred
• A strong desire to teach in the field/outdoors (under all weather conditions)
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
• Collaborative work style
• Creativity, humor, and self-confidence
• Knowledge of Maryland rivers and streams and environmental issues facing the Chesapeake Bay, preferred

Physical Requirements:

• Physical ability to lift and carry heavy objects-at least 45 pounds (canoes and other equipment)
• Ability to learn to drive a work truck and safely tow a canoe trailer over long distances with a varying work schedule
• This physically demanding position involves year-round exposure to the elements
• Ability to work occasional evenings and/or weekends
• Ability to work away from home for multiple-day periods throughout the year
• Ability to travel to attend trainings & meetings
• Ability to have access reliable transportation to travel to other CBF field programs & locations as needed

Other:

• Must pass a criminal background check
• Must possess a valid driver’s license, submit a driving record, and have an acceptable driving record
• All education staff participate in a pre-employment & random drug screening program per the requirements of the US Coast Guard

Salary Range:  $40,000

To apply, please send resume and cover letter through job posting on CBF website no later than June 16, 2022.

CBF offers a comprehensive benefits package to include: 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 2 floating holidays, health, vision, dental, life insurance, and a 403(b) retirement plan with matching contribution. 

CBF requires that all staff be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The successful candidate will need to submit verification of vaccination or have a valid religious or medical reason not to be vaccinated.

WE ARE COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND JUSTICE

Just as biodiversity is the key to a thriving ecosystem, human diversity is the key to saving the Bay. Success depends on people from widely diverse backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, identities, and races taking collective action. Clean water, clean air, and a safe environment are rights we all share.

To increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation will:

• Recruit and retain a staff, board, and membership that reflect the diversity of people living within the Chesapeake Bay region;
• Strengthen and broaden the diversity of our partnerships;
• Celebrate and value the diversity of staff; and
• Fight to ensure that everyone has equal access to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment.

CBF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.