The Council for Environmental Education (CEE) is offering an eight week internship in our Austin office during the fall of 2015. The intern will assist in a major curriculum development effort: the Next Generation Project WILD project. The internship is for a full-time, 320 hour position over the course of eight to ten weeks. A $2,000 stipend will be provided. The position is ideal for those seeking to further develop their expertise in environmental education, science education, lesson planning, and K-12 curriculum development. Former teachers, nonformal educators, pre-service teachers, and students (graduate and undergraduate) are encouraged to apply.
Organization Description: The Council for Environmental Education (CEE), a non-profit organization with offices in Houston and Austin, serves as the national headquarters for Project WILD, the largest wildlife education program in the United States (seewww.projectwild.org). As the cornerstone publication for the Project WILD program, this curriculum helps tens of thousands of K-12 educators each year throughout North America engage students in hand-on activities and projects involving the study and stewardship of wildlife and the environment. At the national level CEE also administers Aquatic WILD, Growing Up WILD, Flying WILD, and WET in the City. CEE recently completed the updating and expanding a cornerstone publication: the Aquatic WILD K-12 Educators Curriculum and Activity Guide. Efforts are currently underway at CEE to expand the “Terrestrial” Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide.
Position Description: As part of the team at CEE working to expand the Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide, the Curriculum Development Intern will assist in development of new content on environmental issues, new approaches to teaching and learning, additional content on student-centered field investigations, STEM learning, career development, and additional outdoor learning experiences. Updating the curriculum guide will involve the intern in researching environmental issues, including wildlife conservation issues, as well as conservation organizations, educational standards and pedagogy. The intern will also help draft, analyze, and edit lessons and other texts that will ultimately be published for professional K-12 educators to implement Project WILD in schools and nonformal settings.
Throughout the internship, the intern will meet no less than once per week with CEE staff for a progress report and to ensure that the intern has all of the information needed to complete the work. The intern will also be encouraged to solicit guidance as often as needed.
The intern placed with CEE will be encouraged to be creative and feel empowered to share innovative ways to improve the Project WILD curriculum. By completing this internship the Curriculum Development Intern will gain knowledge, experience, and/or skills in:
• Writing and editing for curriculum development
• Knowledge of the fields of environmental education and science education
• Knowledge of nonformal and formal educator professional development systems and networks
• Knowledge of the educational publishing industry
• Researching environmental conservation issues and organizations
• Researching trends in educational methodologies
• Preparing reports, summaries, and goals for an organization
• Project WILD or related professional development training
In addition to completing the above job description, the intern will collaborate with staff members on a variety of other tasks. With a small staff running several national programs, the intern will have a unique opportunity to be fundamentally involved with all of the programs, and environmental education as a whole, starting on day one. Participation in weekly staff meetings will provide an overview of the business of running a nonprofit, keep the intern up to date on staff projects, and allow them to report out on their own projects.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Knowledge of general office operations
• Detail oriented and well organized
• Ability to use Microsoft Office and Excel software
• Time management skills
• Effective oral and written skills
• Research skills
Preferred Experience
Coursework and/or experience in K-12 education, lesson planning, curriculum development, environmental sciences, or STEM education is preferred.
To apply, send a cover letter and resume to Marc LeFebre, at marcL@councilforee.org.
To learn more about CEE’s programs, please visit our websites: www.councilforee.org, www.projectwild.org,www.flyingwild.org, www.projectwild.org/GrowingUpWILD,
www.wetcity.org, www.birdeducation.org