Conservation Education Ranger (PO-00735824)

Come join our staff at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center!

The Mendenhall Glacier, in Juneau Alaska, is one of the state’s top attractions with over 550,000 visitors a year, primarily in the summer. In the winter, operations shift to be more community focused and include conservation education programming for the local school district. The visitor center is open to the public 3 days/week in the winter months, but staff are onsite and operations occur 7 days/week.
Come join our team as we overhaul our conservation education program to better align with education standards and the needs of our local school district. You’ll have the opportunity to help develop new programs, revise current programs, and assist with ongoing onsite programming.
As an intern, you will be integrated into our visitor center program and wear a Forest Service uniform. You will receive conservation education and resource training at the beginning of your internship. There will be opportunities for both formal and informal mentoring as you gain experience in the field. The work week is 5 days/week, 8 hours/day, and could include evening and weekend work. Conditions require long periods of standing each day and working outside in winter weather, including snow, rain and icy conditions. Winter weather in Juneau, AK experiences average daily temperatures in the mid 20°s to mid 30°s Fahrenheit, with temperatures in the visitor center area typically 5°-10° degrees colder. Winter snow levels average 92.6 inches per year. Throughout the winter, Juneau has between 6.5 and 10 hours of daylight, with the shortest day of the year, winter solstice, approximately 6 hours and 22 minutes of daylight.

We employ SCA interns, permanent seasonal interpretive park rangers, custodial/maintenance staff, and leadership. In addition, we share the building with our partner Discovery Southeast, a local environmental education non-profit who operates the Mendenhall Glacier interpretive bookstore.

Mendenhall Glacier is part of the largest National Forest in the United States – the Tongass National Forest. Encompassing 16.7 million acres, the Tongass makes up 90% of Southeast Alaska and is a temperate rainforest. The landscape encompasses glaciers, mountains, waterways and thousands of islands separated by straits and channels. The islands and mainland create 11,000 miles of shoreline where regal mountains rise from the tidewater to overlook a mostly undeveloped and isolated landscape. Most of the Tongass is isolated from the continental road system. Visitors to Juneau arrive by cruise ship, ferry or commercial airplane.

Job Duties Include:

• Revise current and develop new educational programming to better align with educational standards and school district priorities
• Lead curriculum-based conservation education field trip programs
• Develop and present public-facing early childhood programming
• Staff information stations to answer visitor questions
• Additional interpretive program opportunities may exist including adult-focused programs and contributing to social media

Compensation amounts:

• $400 – weekly living allowance
• $1,500 – one-time RT travel allowance
• $1,360 – duty-related reimbursable expenses
• Housing:
  • Forest Service housing covered or $1000/mo housing allowance

*All allowances subject to applicable federal, state and local taxes
*Please include a resume as an attachment with your SCA application
For SCA’s COVID guidance, please refer to www.thesca.org/covid.
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