Canoe Program Coordinator
We are looking for an extraordinary individual to coordinate canoe excursions. This is a seasonal, part-time position.
During the winter months, you will secure permits, pull together a canoe trip leadership team (volunteers), and develop a trip schedule, using past trips and scouting new locales, for the 2025 season which will run from April through October 30, 2025
During the season, you will manage all aspects of each trip including but not limited to organizing transport of gear, communicate with registrants, greet and orient registrants, lead the trips with input from other volunteer naturalists on the team, ensure safety of guests, manage any unexpected issues, oversee correct loading and unloading of gear, manage transport to secure locations.
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:
- Expert river canoeist with 2+ years guiding
- Outgoing personality able to interact with diverse sets of people
- Competent in Google Drive, Sheets, Instagram, Facebook, and comfortable learning how to use Wild Apricot, our booking system
- Comfortable managing a complicated schedule of trips
- Able to lift 80lb canoes with assistance
- Comfortable with collaboration and open communication
- Wilderness First Aid and CPR Certified (willing to get prior to season)
- Pass Background Test
PREFERRED:
- Experienced naturalist
- BA/BS in Environmental Studies, psychology, biology, or related field
- Experience educating others
- Social media marketing skills
- Comfortable driving a canoe trailer
BENEFITS OF WORKING FOR THE NHSM:
- Be a part of a very cool organization
- Incorporate your vision into programming
- Canoeing
- Learning and working with experts
Note: The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. * The Employer retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position.
To apply, please send your resume/CV along, a cover letter describing your fit for this opportunity, and 3 professional references.
About the Natural History Society of Maryland
The Natural History Society of Maryland (NHSM) is a private nonprofit dedicated to conserving Maryland’s natural heritage and educating its citizens on the natural sciences since 1929. We are a primarily volunteer-run organization with a small paid staff. We own our facility in Overlea, Maryland, where we present rotating exhibits and offer programs, lectures, workshops, and courses on a wide variety of natural science subjects. The bottom level of our building is a collections facility that houses over 200,000 natural history specimens and artifacts.
NHSM had its start from within the Maryland Academy of Sciences, and many of our older collections were transferred from the Academy to the new organization. Our natural history collections date from the 1800s to the present and include minerals, fossils, flora, fauna, and artifacts from Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region. Spanning the disciplines of geology, mineralogy, entomology, malacology, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, paleontology, anthropology and botany, these collections are both historically and scientifically significant, providing a unique and valuable resource for the state of Maryland.
An important part of our mission is to provide a place for unwanted private and public collections which may otherwise not be preserved. Some of these are scientifically significant and are studied by scientists; others lack data or are duplicates but remain important for hands-on educational programs.