Creek Freaks Environmental Education Intern

(CHESAPEAKE CONSERVATION CORPS)
August 2013-July 2014

The Izaak Walton League of America is seeking to host a Chesapeake Conservation Corps volunteer for the 2013-2014 service year. The Chesapeake Bay Trust Chesapeake Conservation Corps program, open to people aged 18-25, is a competitive opportunity for Volunteer Applicants and Host Organizations that are selected and matched by the Trust. Volunteers receive an annual stipend of $15,500, plus health insurance. The one-year paid internship starts August 27, 2013.

If successfully matched, the Izaak Walton League’s Corps Volunteer will deliver the Creek Freaks program to students and adults in Maryland. This involves working on environmental education, stream monitoring and community outreach and participating in leadership and training opportunities with the full Chesapeake Conservation Corps.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Conservation Corps Volunteer will conduct Creek Freaks environmental education programming for children ages 10-14, train adult program leaders to conduct Creek Freaks activities with children, and monitor water quality of streams in the greater Gaithersburg area with children and adults. In addition, the Corps Volunteer will create videos, fact sheets, and Web site content as needed to enhance program leader trainings and will promote the program using social media.

This position is 40 hours per week and is located at the Izaak Walton League’s national headquarters at 707 Conservation Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20878.

Duties will include:

• Deliver environmental education programming to students in grades 4 through 8 using the League’s Creek Freaks curriculum (http://www.creekfreaks.net/). Includes indoor hands-on activities on watersheds, soils, streamside plants, and water quality and field activities such as biological, chemical and physical monitoring of streams. Program delivery to students will include running activities at the League’s headquarters property in Gaithersburg, MD, and visiting local elementary and middle school classrooms and afterschool programs to deliver programming.
• Run three to five Creek Freaks afterschool clubs and/or summer camp programs. These programs provide students the opportunity to truly become experts on a local creek and to share that information with the public through data, photos, videos and stories.
• Recruit, train and support Izaak Walton League members, partner organization after-school program and summer camp staff, and community volunteers to serve as Creek Freaks program leaders for children. 
• Create materials and content as needed to enhance Creek Freaks program delivery to children and adult program leader trainings. This may include preparing science experiment materials, stream monitoring equipment and craft supplies for hands-on activities prior to program delivery. In addition, there will be opportunities for the Corps Volunteer to develop extension activities for students or training materials for adults such as brief demonstration videos of hands-on activities used in the Creek Freaks curriculum.
• Coordinate and assist groups of adult volunteers in Montgomery County, Maryland, to monitor water quality of streams using the League’s Save Our Streams biological, physical and chemical monitoring protocols and Maryland’s Stream Waders program. This includes recruiting and organizing volunteers, assisting with volunteer trainings by League staff, assisting volunteers as needed in the field, entering water quality data into an online database, tracking information about number of volunteers participating, and providing data to local and state agencies. 
• Promote the program using social media including Facebook and Twitter.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Must be between the ages of 18 and 25 years at the time of enrollment (can include individuals with or without college degrees).
• Interest and experience in environmental education, community outreach, water quality, and stream monitoring.
• Public speaking skills.
• Ability to work constructively and cooperatively with a diverse array of staff, volunteers, and colleague organizations.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The individual Corps Volunteer will receive a stipend for one year of service of $15,500 plus health insurance, administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

HOW TO APPLY
Interested applicants should apply directly through the Chesapeake Bay Trust by following instructions at www.cbtrust.org/chesapeakeconservationcorps; however, applicants also are encouraged to contact the Izaak Walton League with questions about this position. Please contact Leah Miller at leah@iwla.org or 301-548-0150 x219.  The application deadline is April 19, 2013, with the one-year service term to begin in late August, 2012.

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
The Izaak Walton League of America, founded in 1922, protects and conserves our shared heritage of wildlife, clean air and water, forests and soils.  Our members and staff combine hands-on conservation action, policy work with legislatures and resource agencies, and public education to pursue our conservation goals at the local, state, and national levels.  As a strong responsible voice representing hunters, anglers and outdoor recreationists, we occupy a special niche in the conservation community.

The Izaak Walton League of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer