The Wild Center is seeking highly motivated museum fellows for an 8 month position at a natural history museum in the heart of New York State’s Adirondack region. Fellows will receive a broad range of interpretive responsibilities and are a key part of The Wild Center’s visitor experience. This job promotes leadership skills, development of local natural history knowledge, and best practices in customer service. We are looking for passionate, curious, and motivated people to join our team.

Learning Experiences and Responsibilities

• Build your knowledge in Adirondack natural history, climate change, public speaking, visitor engagement, leadership, and job skills
• Engage with visitors throughout our campus, including Wild Walk, the Pines Play Area, and along our trails
• Facilitate short, informal conversations featuring live animals including river otters and birds of prey and learn to handle live animals including turtles, birds, and mammals for interpretive experiences 
• Help maintain and traverse our outdoor campus, including opening and closing duties, trail sweeps, and general tidying of outdoor spaces
• Learn best practices of online digital engagement and assist with TWC’s digital content creation and presentation, including virtual field trips, daily live programs, and special virtual events
• Work cross-departmentally with admissions, store, and facilities, to provide excellent customer service to all visitors in a variety of roles

Work schedule is 35 hours per week, including weekends and occasional mornings and evenings 

Qualifications

• Flexibility and the ability to adapt to change - we work in a dynamic setting with shifting daily duties
• Self-motivated - you seek opportunities to learn and grow and can thrive independently
• Positive attitude and a willingness to work with people - you will work directly with visitors of all ages and must enjoy working and communicating with people
• Teamwork and collaboration - we work in a team based environment and offer support across departments
• Organization and time management skills - you will work on multiple tasks concurrently
• Maturity and professionalism - we will consider you if you demonstrate the above skills regardless of level of education completed
• An interest in teaching natural history and working outdoors in all seasons
• An interest in learning more about a career in environmental education, museum studies, or related fields 
• Policies - be prepared to adhere to all Wild Center policies including our dress code as well as  NYS Covid safety procedures and regulations
• Transportation - must have a reliable means to commute to The Wild Center
• Availability - be available from May through December, with flexibility upon discussion

Compensation & Benefits

• $12.50/hour (~35 hours per work week) 
• Shared, fully equipped housing less than 1 mile from The Wild Center, with all utilities included
• Health and Safety, Accessibility, and Customer Service training provided
• The opportunity to work in an environmentally conscious facility featuring over 40 species of live exhibit animals
• Formal training opportunities and ongoing mentorship in visitor engagement techniques, questioning strategies, and interactive applications, including digital programming
• Water safety and canoe basics provided along with the use of boats and SUP’s outside of work hours