Conservation Associate (Adirondacks)

Founded in 1951, the Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable.  One of our core values is our commitment to diversity. Therefore, we strive for a globally diverse and culturally competent workforce. Working in 74 countries, including all 50 United States, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.

The Nature Conservancy offers competitive compensation, 401k or savings-plan matching for eligible employees, excellent benefits, flexible work policies and a collaborative work environment. We also provide professional development opportunities and promote from within. As a result, you will find a culture that supports and inspires conservation achievement and personal development, both within the workplace and beyond.

Lead Project – NY Land Trust Atlas Project: The Associate will facilitate the collection and curation of data to accurately map the service areas of the 108 land trusts operating across the State of New York. This will include outreach to request the data, implementing a quality assurance protocol to ensure accuracy and consistency. Once collected, they will develop an online mapping tool to be published and shared with the Land Trust Alliance and the wider land trust community. After the initial mapping tool is developed, and if time permits, the Associate will continue to engage with the NY land trust community in a beta testing phase to add additional data and functionality to the mapping tool to increase its usefulness.

Additional potential projects:

Threat Abatement: Assist the Terrestrial and Aquatic Invasive Species Project Coordinators with invasive species prevention, control, monitoring, and data processing as well as public education and outreach throughout the Adirondack region.

Communications: Assist the Communications and Community Engagement Manager with preparing outreach, educational, marketing and other materials for various audiences, including donors, partners and the media.

Stewardship: Assist stewardship staff with various aspects of preserve and conservation easement stewardship activities. Tasks might include: compiling and synthesizing visitor data; boundary and trail maintenance work; and recordkeeping.

Fundraising: Assist Philanthropy staff with all aspects of trips and special events, including logistics, donor relations, and producing informational materials.

Land Protection: Assist the Land Protection Manager with various aspects of land protection, such as public records research and assisting with select projects, including field evaluation of candidate sites.

Conservation Science: Assist science staff with research in the Adirondacks, which may include: ongoing terrestrial and aquatic connectivity research; ecological assessment field work; literature reviews, or other projects both in the office and in the field.

General: In addition to the listed duties, there might be clerical and other work as needed to support priorities or special projects that can benefit from the Associate’s skills and interests. Work will be both in the office and in the field. The Associate will work closely with many members of the staff. The successful candidate is expected to work independently as well as with colleagues, members and donors, volunteers, partners and the public. Field work will be in all sorts of weather, sometimes in remote locations with rugged terrain.

• Interaction with land trust partners, and donors.
• May purchase equipment and supplies as provided for in budget. 
• Makes day-to-day decisions as delegated by supervisor and may work under close or infrequent supervision.
• Opportunity to work independently on assigned tasks.
• May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, in hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.

• Minimum level of education completed by the beginning of summer, 2020: Associates Degree or college sophomore and 1 year of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience maintaining and populating databases and manual files.
• Experience producing aps and/or other graphic products and reports.
• Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and web browsers.
• Drivers’ license.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Enrolled in an undergraduate program, graduate program, or a recent graduate of Geography, Conservation, Environmental Studies, Natural Resource Management, Computer Science or related field, or equivalent; coursework in geography, GIS, ecology, and/or natural resource management helpful.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience researching, writing, editing, especially promotional or educational materials,
• Experience with ESRI Web AppBuilder, Story Maps, ArcGIS Online, and/or REST API.
• Experience with Adobe software such as Lightroom.
• Demonstrated interest in conservation issues.
• Enthusiastic can-do attitude; well-organized.
• Motivated self-starter, able to work independently with minimal direction.
• Willing to work outdoors, sometimes in adverse weather conditions.

• May-September, 2020:  10-14 weeks total.  Preference given to candidates who can work for a longer period.
• $18.24/hour, 35 hour work week.  Generally Mondays through Fridays.  Some days, particularly those in remote field locations, will be longer than 7 hours.
• Housing is not provided, but we are happy to assist the successful candidate in finding local housing.
• Cover letter and resume required for application to be considered.  Cover letter serves as writing sample and should include a description of how the applicant meets the qualifications above.

Employment in this position will be contingent upon completion of a Vehicle Use Agreement, which may include a review of the prospective employee’s motor vehicle record.

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