A unique opportunity to bring precision stream restoration skills to conservation work in the Adirondack Park of northern NY, an amazing place to live and work.
Position Announcement – Stream Restoration Manager
The Ausable River Association (AsRA), a nonprofit conservation organization with a mission of helping communities protect our stream and lakes, seeks a qualified individual to perform stream monitoring, assessment, and manage restoration projects under our Healthy Streams program. AsRA’s office is located in Wilmington, New York.
Position Overview
Status: Full-time exempt
Compensation: $45,000 – 52,000, dependent on experience, with excellent health, dental, vision, savings, and paid time off benefits
Timeline: Applications no later than September 15; application review and interviews are planned to begin in August
AsRA currently employs a small staff of hardworking conservation professionals with expertise in biology, water quality, natural stream restoration, communications, grant-writing, nonprofit management, and program building. This is a unique opportunity for an early to mid-career stream practitioner interested in working on behalf of stream health and wildlife habitat with group of talented professionals. While technical qualifications are essential to this position, excellent communication skills, an ability to work in teams with partners from a variety of backgrounds, attention to detail, and a passion for streams, lakes, and freshwater are just as important.
Position Description
We consider healthy streams with shaded, cool waters, ample floodplains, and self-regulating flows essential to sustaining ecological diversity and thriving communities. Our Healthy Streams program evaluates stream systems – taking into account the human communities around them – and implements projects that help streams regain their geomorphic potential while also benefitting wildlife habitat, flood resilience, and water quality. Several stream restoration projects of varying scope are underway, and an ongoing comprehensive planning process continues to assess and identify projects. Work is focused in the Ausable River watershed of upstate New York but is expanding to include neighboring watersheds.
The new employee will work under the supervision of AsRA’s Executive Director (ED) and our colleagues at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They will perform stream geomorphic surveys (dimension, pattern, profile, substrate), channel and topographic surveys, function-based and stream habitat assessments, and will contribute to the design and implementation, e.g. permitting assistance, cost estimate, and construction oversight, of in-stream restoration projects and culvert replacements. The ideal candidate shall have the skills necessary to develop and pursue a regional monitoring and assessment effort to document the long- term effects of restoration projects and to understand the current geomorphic condition of a growing number of regional streams.
Qualifications
- Qualified candidates will hold a four-year degree related to their profession. Degrees of interest include environmental science, ecology, hydrology, geology, geomorphology, engineering, landscape architecture, biology, forestry, or related field.
- Candidates must, at minimum, have basic survey skills, i.e. the ability to perform basic stream surveys autonomously and with limited direction, a knowledge of hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology, and some experience applying these to stream restoration or mitigation projects, culvert replacements, or floodplain management.
- Preferred candidates will have at least 3 years direct experience in ecosystem restoration or mitigation projects, stream, wetland, floodplain surveys and assessments, design of culverts that meet aquatic organism passage standards per the US Forest Service, environmental permitting, and/or environmental field assessments.
- Training in natural channel design techniques, in particular Rosgen methods and the “Function-
Based Framework for Stream Assessment and Restoration Projects” (Harman and Starr) is preferred.
- Working knowledge of Arc GIS.
- Facility with other computer programs including HEC-RAS, CAD, and RiverMorph preferred.
- Qualified candidates will have strong written and verbal communication skills and be at ease with people with diverse backgrounds and experience.
- She/he/they will be committed to our mission of helping communities protect the clean waters, healthy streams, and diverse habitats of the Ausable watershed.
The ability to work closely with the executive director, manage multiple tasks, and concisely share ideas and questions is essential, as is a sense of humor and a willingness to listen, share, and solve problems with a small team of dedicated coworkers. Opportunities for intensive training and mentoring to advance skills and knowledge will be available. The preferred candidate, however, will possess, at minimum, the ability to perform basic stream surveys autonomously and with limited direction.
AsRA’s main office is currently closed to the public in response to COVID19 and staff are working from home offices. The main office serves as a meeting and storage point with strict safety guidelines in place.
About AsRA
Since 1998, AsRA has been working with landowners, local, state, and federal government, NGOs, researchers, and other stakeholders to conserve the freshwater of the Ausable watershed and beyond.
AsRA’s conservation programs provide transferable solutions to issues that challenge many watersheds. We undertake rigorous monitoring to mitigate the effects of pollutants on aquatic life and drinking water; provide early detection, education, and outreach to reduce invasive species threats; assess the abundance of aquatic native species, such as brook trout, and work to protect their habitat; and we restore the health and balance of our streams, sustaining ecological diversity and providing flood resilience for our communities.
See our website: www.ausableriver.org/about-us/employment for more details.
How to Apply
Please send a resume, a cover letter describing your interest and addressing the qualifications above, a writing sample, and contact information for three professional references through Indeed or directly to us at hiring[at]ausableriver[dot]org. Please type “stream restoration position” in the subject line.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $45,000.00 – $52,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) Matching
- Dental Insurance
- Health Insurance
- Paid Time Off
- Vision Insurance
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Pay may depend on skills and/or qualifications
This Company Describes Its Culture as:
- Detail-oriented — quality and precision-focused
- Outcome-oriented — results-focused with strong performance culture
- Team-oriented — cooperative and collaborative
Company’s website:
- www.ausableriver.org
Work Remotely:
- No
