Stratford WildLife Guard Crew Leader

The National Audubon Society is seeking a WildLife Guard Crew Leader in Connecticut to supervise and train local high school students in a youth employment program focused on wildlife conservation. Responsibilities include mentoring, public outreach, and habitat restoration at Great Meadows Marsh and Long Beach. This seasonal, part-time role requires a commitment from April 14th to August 22nd, with compensation at $18.50 per hour. Remote work is allowed for candidates near the Connecticut coastline.
Position Summary

In partnership with the Town of Stratford, the WildLife Guard Crew Leader will be responsible for the direct supervision, training, and execution of Audubon Connecticut’s youth employment program.

This position focuses on management efforts taking place at the Great Meadows Marsh and on Long Beach, both in Stratford, CT. Great Meadows is a unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and approximately 700-acres in size, making this Globally Important Bird Area one of the largest mostly un-ditched salt marsh in CT. Since fall 2021, there has been a massive restoration effort underway, which aims to control invasive plant species, improve tidal flow, and create habitat that is beneficial to a host of plants and animals. Long Beach is a priority mainland nesting area in the state for federally threatened Piping Plover, state threatened Least Tern, and state threatened American Oystercatcher. This local park is also popular with both anglers and residents. Crew Leaders (2) will supervise a team of eight local high school students, participating in the Wildlife Guards Program. The program trains, mentors, and employs local youth to monitor nesting shorebirds, restore habitat, and engage visitors, families, and friends about the project areas and their wildlife.

This is a seasonal, part-time position (20-30 hrs/wk, depending on time of year) starting April 14th and going through August 22nd. Note: Audubon staff will provide one to two weeks of paid training to crew leaders at the beginning of the WildLife Guards Program.

This is a remote position based in Connecticut. Desired candidates should be based in or within a reasonable distance to the Connecticut coastline.

Compensation:

$18.50 / hour

Additional Job Description

Essential Functions

The WildLife Guard Crew Leader, through training and supervision of high school students participating in Audubon’s youth employment program, will assist conservation scientists with the monitoring and stewardship of critical shoreline habitat. This position is ideal for an early career professional. Crew Leader duties include:
• Mentoring, motivating, and inspiring the students working as part of the employment program.
• Facilitating team building and helping students work through challenging situations.
• Developing and implementing public outreach programs (e.g., nature walks, seine netting, touch tank, scavenger hunt, arts and crafts, tabling).
• Creating a schedule of activities (e.g., outreach programs, bird monitoring, and habitat restoration work) to be performed weekly by students.
• Developing lessons and pre/post tests for students.
• Tracking program metrics (e.g., number of people engaged, materials distributed, pledges to protect birds signed and hours spent monitoring sites).
• Working with students to update and provide content for applicable Audubon CT social media.
• Collecting and entering data into online databases.
• Writing weekly reports detailing management activities at each site.
• Coordinating monitoring efforts with other Audubon CT staff and partners.
• Organizing and leading volunteer events.
• Additional duties may be assigned to support other aspects of the youth employment program.

Qualifications and Experience
• Desirable candidates will be available from April 14th through August 22nd, 2025.
• Crew Leaders must be responsible, mature, and able to serve as mentors to the students.
• Coursework in the active pursuit of a degree in biology, wildlife management, or related field preferred.
• Experience supervising high school aged students preferred.
• Experience leading environmental education and public outreach highly desirable.
• Experience and ability to communicate clearly via written, spoken and graphical means along with responding to communications in a prompt and timely manner. Crew Leaders should be comfortable interacting with students, their families, the public, and project partners.
• Good planning skills and a flexible approach to work desired. In the event of poor weather, Crew Leaders will need to keep their teams informed and plan to work with them on a pre-determined rain date or at a rainy day location when fieldwork is not possible.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite software required.
• Weekend work will be required.
• Knowledge of waterbirds & native/invasive plant species found in CT is desirable.
• Knowledge of salt marsh systems is highly desirable.
• Fluency in Spanish a plus.
• Must be physically fit, able to walk in a variety of coastal terrain and able to lift/carry at least 30lbs with or without accommodation.
• Crew Leaders are required to successfully complete an Audubon provided Basic First Aid/CPR certification course during the first week of training.
• Interest in conservation and commitment to the mission of the National Audubon Society.

EEO Statement

The National Audubon Society is a federal contractor and an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. We are committed to a policy of nondiscrimination, inclusion and equal opportunity and actively seek a diverse pool of candidates in this search.

Accessibility Statement

The National Audubon Society endeavors to keep our careers site accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact Accommodations@audubon.org. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.