Employment Opportunities

Education Fellow

Description: The Clifton Institute seeks an environmental educator to coordinate our Lawn Lab project and to help run school year field trips and summer camps. Lawn Lab is a land-management experiment being conducted on the shared grounds of a Fauquier County public elementary and high school; students from those schools go out routinely during the school year to conduct biodiversity surveys to determine what happens to plant and insect communities when a lawn is mowed only once a year. The Fellow will be responsible for developing curriculum to integrate this experiment into classroom learning, coordinating with teachers, and providing the in-school programming, with the support of Clifton’s other education staff. The Fellow will also help run our Scientist for a Day field trips, during which K-12 students learn how to collect data on one of five ongoing research projects, and our four weeks of summer camp. We would like the Fellow to start in June 2025. This is a 7 month position, with a possibility to extend to 12 months, working 40 hours a week.

Background: The Clifton Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located two miles north of Warrenton, in the northern Piedmont of Virginia. Our 900-acre field station, which includes forests, grasslands, shrub fields, and wetlands, is permanently protected under a conservation easement. We host an average of around 1,200 pre-K-12 students annually on our environmental education programs. We have one full time educator and one part-time educator along with a handful of education volunteers. On our inquiry-based field trips, students learn about the scientific process and help collect data on ongoing scientific research projects. We also provide summer day camps, nature hikes for children and their families, and walks and workshops for adults. You can learn more about our field trips at cliftoninstitute.org/fieldtrips and about our other education programs at www.cliftoninstitute.org/events. The pilot year of Lawn Lab was the 2024-25 school year and we are anticipating at least another year of actively teaching at the pilot school, hopefully replicating the experiment at other school sites in the future. The Clifton Institute is a small but dynamic organization and the successful applicant will play an important role in our organization.

Duties:

Developing curriculum to tie the Lawn Lab experiment into second grade and high school ecology curricula
Coordinating with teachers at the Lawn Lab schools about program dates, evaluation, and curriculum development.
Lead teaching between 10 and 15 Lawn Lab programs a school year
Designing professional development training days for teachers about how to take students into outdoor settings
Helping run half-day environmental education Scientist for a Day field trips for groups of up to 75 students, with each instructor leading groups of up to 25. Running field trips involves setting up materials beforehand, taking groups of students out onto our trails, and cleaning up from trips.
Working at least 3 out of the 4 weeks of summer camp we run for ages between 7 and 18 years old, teaching about natural history subjects, leading explorations, and other camp duties.

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications:

A keen and demonstrated personal interest in natural history, conservation, and education.
At least 6 months of teaching experience ideally including lesson plan or curriculum development.
Ability to work independently and with a small team of educators in both lead and supporting positions.
Familiar with ecological research techniques and/or habitat restoration.
A Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, education, or related field.
Ability to walk on hilly terrain for 1-2 miles and be outdoors for 4+ hours in rain or shine.
Available to work 40 hours each week. Currently all of our programmatic staff work Tuesday through Saturday during the school year, but the Fellow would be free to work a Monday – Friday schedule.
Must be authorized to work in the US and able to work at our office in Warrenton, VA.
Able and willing to drive to the Lawn Lab site in Bealeton, VA.
Must pass a federal background check.
Ideally holds a current First Aid/CPR certificate or be willing to attend a training before June 15^th 2025.

Wages and benefits:

The starting wages will be $17 / hour.
Part-time employees accrue .039 hour of paid time off per hour worked.
Reimbursement for mileage driving on their personal vehicle for work ($0.655 per mile or the current federal rate)
In addition, employees of the Clifton Institute spend a significant amount of time outside on our beautiful 900-acre property.

How to Apply: Please send applications to jobs@cliftoninstitute.org. Please include a resume and a cover letter describing your interest in working at the Clifton Institute. Cover letters can be addressed informally to Education Associate Bridget Bradshaw (she/her). We much prefer to read a cover letter about how this position fits in with your interests and goals rather than a letter trying to convince us of your qualifications. Please also provide the names and email addresses of at least three references. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Nature Camp Staff

Term: July 7-18th, 2025 plus a paid training day earlier in the summer (date TBD)

Times: Approximately 8:30AM – 4:30PM, M-F (varies day to day)

Description: The Clifton Institute seeks Nature Camp Educators to assist with 2 weeks of Young Naturalists Camp. This is an all-outdoors day-camp for 7-12 year olds, with a heavy emphasis on the ecology of the Piedmont. This position involves working on a 6-person education team, 3 of whom are year-round Clifton staff, to manage a group of 25 campers.

A Clifton staff member is responsible for teaching the morning workshop, which is followed by a hike in two smaller groups to expand on something from the morning workshop. After eating a picnic lunch, campers sign up for their choice of 3 offered afternoon activities, which are different each day and led by any interested staff member. Example afternoon activities include hiking as pretend raccoons, a specialized class on beetle identification, or making puppets of native flowers. The day closes by splitting into 6 small groups for Nature Journaling.

We are a small and flexible staff who hope to provide not only a safe and fun space for campers, but also a place for educators to hone their skills, learn from each other, and get creative.

Ideal Qualifications:

Familiarity with the natural history of the Piedmont region and/or a strong interest in learning
Experience working with children in an outdoor setting

Essential Qualifications:

CPR/First Aid certified or willing to become certified before the start of camp (will be reimbursed for cost)
Able to move over uneven terrain for up to 2 hours at a time in summer heat and humidity
Over 18 at the time of camp

Duties:

Working with other camp staff members to plan and coordinate camp events
Leading and supporting campers as they participate in age-appropriate activities
Monitoring campers to ensure compliance with camp rules and prevent accidents
Cleaning, maintaining and ensuring proper use of camp facilities and equipment
Participating in staff training and follow-up evaluation meetings

Salary and benefits:

$450 per week for 1st time staff, going up $50/week for each return year (up to $600/week); paid twice, by check, at the end of each week of camp
$90 for day of training (date early June or July, TBD)

Deadline for Application:

April 15th 2025

To Apply:

Please fill out our Nature Camp Staff 2025 Application. We will reach out to schedule an interview if we are interested in proceeding.

Box Turtle Tracking Technician

Description:

Box Turtle populations in the Mid Atlantic appear to be in steep decline and it seems that mortality from cutting hay and mowing fields is an important, yet little studied, contributor to declines in rural areas. We will track Box Turtles with GPS and radio tags and do population surveys to learn about the effects of mowing on Box Turtles.

This is a 9-month position beginning March 1, 2025 and ending December 1, 2025. The selected applicant will assist with tagging turtles, track tagged turtles, do turtle surveys, and enter and analyze data. Properties included in the study will be located in Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, Virginia. We expect about 70% of this position to be field-based.

Required Skills/Experience

Strong interest in wildlife and applied conservation
Experience with radio telemetry or GPS tracking of animals
Demonstrated ability to work in challenging field conditions. The job will involve long days, 90+ degree heat, high humidity, thick thorny undergrowth, ticks and chiggers, and miles of hiking off trail.
Experience with visual surveys of animals (e.g., transect surveys of reptiles/amphibians, searching for bird nests)
Comfort with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets which will be used for data entry.
Excellent communication skills, and professionalism when working with people from different backgrounds. Field work will include interactions with landowners who are granting access to their property.
Ability to work independently but an interest to collaborate with team members.
Valid US Driver’s License and ability to use personal vehicle for travel among study sites. Well-maintained personal vehicle that can travel 800 miles per month.
Must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Preferred Skills/Experience

Research experience with turtles (searching for turtles, notching shells, attaching radio tags)
Data analysis in R
GIS skills

Compensation: The successful applicant can expect to receive:

$1,654 per month
Free housing and utilities
Reimbursement for mileage driven on their personal vehicle for fieldwork ($0.625 per mile/current federal rate)

To apply: Please send the following materials in an email to (jobs@cliftoninstitute.org). Send your materials as a single PDF, with your last name and “Box Turtle Tech” in the subject line and file name (very important). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2025.

A 1-page cover letter describing your interest in the job. We much prefer to read a cover letter about how this position fits in with your interests and goals rather than a letter trying to convince us of your qualifications.
A brief resume/CV.

In the administration of its employment policies and practices, The Clifton Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status, matriculation, political affiliation or genetic information.

Updated 20 February 2025