Position Description
The Education Department is seeking to hire part-time environmental educators to teach stream study programs. The primary audience is school students in grades three through 12 who participate in stream study programs based at the Stroud Center and off-site venues. Additional programming includes education and outreach to audiences of all ages within the community, educator professional development workshops, scout groups, family programs, etc.
Primary Duties: Education Programs, Outreach, and Professional Development
- Teach engaging environmental education programs to a wide variety of audiences, primarily stream study programs to grades three through 12. Common program instructional content and skills include macroinvertebrate life history and bioassessment, stream water chemistry, stream habitat assessment, overall stream and watershed ecology topics, riparian restoration and monitoring, sustainable building and laboratory tours, and other topics designed and selected for school and other youth programs.
- Host exhibit tables at community events and conferences.
- Lead professional development workshops for teachers and non-formal educators.
- Assist with training community scientists in stream monitoring protocols.
- Assist with other department activities and grant-funded projects.
Minimum Qualifications and Job Expectations
Applicants should have demonstrated teaching experience (formal and/or non-formal), watershed subject matter, and pedagogical knowledge and be able to lead participants of all ages and types in an engaging educational and professional manner. Our programs include leading hands-on activities, getting in and out of streams to collect samples and data, and walking and standing for long periods of time.
Preferred Qualifications
Applicants with teaching credentials for pre-K through 12th grades, environmental educators, interpreters of natural history, and professionals with similar degrees and/or credentials, and prior work experiences in watershed education are preferred. Familiarization with instructional technology, leading canoe-based instruction, fishing instruction, and experience with underserved audiences is also preferred.
Employment Requirements and Process
- Submit a cover letter (including which water education topics and audiences you have experience teaching and prefer to teach) and resume with contacts for three professional references, preferably as a single document. All applications MUST be submitted online. Applications will be processed by the education staff as they are submitted. Finalists will be interviewed. Educators are hired on a rolling basis whenever the job announcement is posted on the Jobs page.
- All educators must complete and submit background checks and clearances as detailed in Stroud Water Research Center’s Policy PD 14 SWRC Child Abuse Policy and Risk Management Program. This documentation is not needed at the time of application but is needed prior to starting employment. The Stroud Center will reimburse employees upon hire for the costs of these clearances and background checks.
Salary and Benefits
Part-time educators are scheduled as needed and paid as hourly employees (with FICA benefits only). There is no guarantee of a minimum number of hours per week or per instructional season. Paid education staff training days are also scheduled each year. Instructors will be contacted by the assistant director of education as needed to be scheduled to teach. Educators will be paid at an hourly rate comparable to local substitute teacher pay, based on qualifications and experience (between $15 and $25 per hour). The position reports directly to the assistant director of education.
About Stroud Water Research Center
Stroud Water Research Center advances knowledge and stewardship of freshwater systems through global research, education, and restoration. The Stroud Center is an independent, non-advocacy 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Since its creation in 1967, teams of Stroud Center scientists have conducted pioneering research on streams and rivers locally, regionally, and throughout the world. Today, the Stroud Center’s research team blends its talents in biogeochemistry, microbiology, aquatic entomology, ichthyology, fluvial geomorphology, and ecosystems in collaborative studies of the physical, chemical, and biological processes of streams and rivers. The Stroud Center’s education team helps to interpret research findings and leads education, training, and outreach programs about freshwater ecology, management, and stewardship that are oriented to a wide audience. The Stroud Center’s Robin L. Vannote Watershed Restoration Program develops and implements programs that connect landowners, stakeholders, and the general public with best management practices for conserving, restoring, and protecting watersheds. While the Stroud Center works in watersheds all over the world, most ideas are generated and pilot-tested at the Stroud Center’s main campus in the White Clay Creek experimental watershed, where the Stroud Center has a research and monitoring record spanning more than 50 years and a unique facility that includes indoor wet labs and streamside flumes fed by flowing water pumped in from the creek. In 2012, the Stroud Center expanded its campus to 55 acres and constructed a LEED Platinum-certified building. The building provides improved and expanded space for education and public outreach.
