Coastal Science Education Coordinator
(January 2023)
The Coastal Science Education Coordinator for the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) develops and leads educational programs that connect people to science and the estuary. The SF Bay NERR program is part of the national NERR system of 30 coastal reserves. The education program engages community members, students, and teachers with the SF Bay NERR field sites and partner organizations through programs that foster scientific literacy and understanding of estuaries. The education coordinator’s primary responsibilities are to support the SF Bay NERR’s Management Plan’s goals and objectives and sustain programs that meet stakeholder needs identified in the 2022 Education Program Needs Assessment: to expand understanding, practice, and application of estuarine and coastal science and to promote public appreciation and stewardship of the SF Estuary, with a specific focus on underserved or underrepresented audiences.
The position requires leadership, creativity, networking, and collaboration to develop and sustain broadly distributed educational programs; create relevant and useful educational resources; assess and track program outcomes; coordinate and mentor volunteers and interns; establish and meet program goals; and write grant proposals to enhance support for the full scope of program goals and objectives. One of the major required educational programs is an annual fully-funded NERR Teachers on the Estuary teacher-training program.
The Reserve’s sites are tied to culturally diverse communities and partner organizations and located on ancestral lands and waters of the Coast Miwok and Southern Patwin peoples. SF State serves one of the nation’s most diverse student populations, is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and has a strong social justice mission. Culturally appropriate and relevant educational outreach and relationship building in these communities, and in collaboration with the SF Bay NERR’s partner organizations, is a core component of the program and the position. SF Bay NERR sites include 3,700 acres of two of the best remaining remnants of ecologically intact tidal wetlands and associated upland habitats in the entire SF Estuary. The SF Bay NERR is hosted by SF State’s Estuary & Ocean Science Center, on the 53- acre historic shoreline Romberg Tiburon Campus. The education coordinator works with the small SF Bay NERR staff, attends the weeklong annual NERR systemwide meeting held at reserves around the United States, collaborates with the education coordinators from the other 29 reserves and NOAA office for coastal management, and has opportunity to guide the direction of the education program.
Please contact Stuart Siegel with questions or for more information: siegel@sfsu.edu
Full position description and application are available here.
Fellowship Opportunity: Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship
The Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship is a two-year fellowship program that places one graduate student at each of the 30 National Estuarine Research Reserves. Through a research project, fellows address a key reserve management need to help scientists and communities understand coastal challenges that may influence future policy and management strategies.
Request for Applications will be posted through Grants.gov every odd-numbered year, notifications are made by the following April, and fellowships begin August 1 of even-numbered years.
Eligible applicants must be admitted to or enrolled in a full-time graduate program working to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree. Applicants must have at least two years remaining in their academic course of study to apply. Pending congressional appropriations, NOAA anticipates an annual budget of up to $45,000 in direct costs for each fellow. Direct costs should support the fellows and their research and may include stipend, supplies, travel, and tuition.