For More Information and To Apply

Job Summary

Performs highly independent professional work with primary responsibility of facilitating relevant and impactful educational programs for youth and adults. Responsibilities include development and implementation of leading-edge curriculum, cultivation of partnerships, promotion of programs, evaluation of outcomes and impacts, supervision of contractors and interns, and supporting volunteer services and training. This position also assists in planning and implementing special events, grant development, administrative and visitor services, and general nature center operations. This position is within the Environmental Resources Department’s Environmental Education and Community Outreach Division (EECO), reports directly to the Environmental Education and Outreach Manager and is based at the Oxbow Eco-Center.

Do you enjoy going outdoors?  Need to relax and revitalize after all the craziness of the past 18 months?  Want to re-connect to nature.  Love to birdwatch or photograph nature?  If so, we have the thing for you!  

We would like to invite you to sign up for the Walk for the Wild 5K Challenge.  This is a nationwide event presented by the National Wildlife Refuge System & Public Lands Alliance.  St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge(NWR) is a participating refuge, and we are calling ours the "Walk for the Wild 5K Relaxathon" because we want you to get out and enjoy nature and see the beauty it has to offer and do so at your own pace.   If you can't make it to St. Marks NWR, but you walk or bike or move a lot for work or school, no matter the location you can use that for the event during Oct 9-16.  

 If you would like a little more info the below text is from the sign-up website.  During the registration process, choose St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and help us climb to the top of the list!  You can sign up for the "no swag, no cost" option or the standard registration for $30, which will include a race t-shirt.  *Note, if you choose the standard option, proceeds do not go to the refuge you choose and you may not get the shirt by the week of the event.

ABOUT WALK FOR THE WILD
Did you know that humans spend 95% of their time indoors?! We’re becoming more and more of an indoor species. 

A growing body of evidence supports the idea that spending time in nature promotes mental and physical well-being. We all need a little more of that, right?

This October – to celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week – join us to help wildlife and humans to thrive by taking a walk, stroll, saunter, hike, prance, trot, amble, ramble or roll for the wild. 

The Challenge

We're on a mission to empower wildlife and humans to thrive. The challenge is to get people moving a distance of 5K in nature on behalf of as many national wildlife refuges as possible; there are 568 to choose from. (We hope you choose St. Marks NWR!)

By joining us, you commit to:

• Move a distance of 5K (3.1 miles) in nature during the week starting October 9, 2021. It’s up to you how you move (as long as you do it self-propelled), where in nature you go, and whether you go solo or with friends or family. 
• Choose a favorite or soon-to-be-favorite national wildlife refuge to walk for. We hope to see as many wildlife refuges represented as possible and look forward to reporting how many are represented by Walk for the Wild participants. ​This is where we would like you to choose St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge! (you don't even have to participate on the refuge if you live far away, but you can still choose us as your "favorite" refuge.
• During the week, record your activity — walking, jogging, hiking, strolling, or whatever you choose— either manually, or using your favorite fitness tracker. Once you’ve completed the 5k distance (3.1 miles), you are officially a Finisher! 
• OPTIONAL, if you are competitive and want to see who can do the challenge the fastest or slowest, you can report your finish time by October 31, 2021.
• Make sure to invite your friends and family to join also.  Feel free to share this email or link below with all your friends and family.
• Then participate from Oct. 9-16 for National Wildlife Refuge Week. (For those participating at St. Marks NWR in person we will have a trail map available, and two trails will be marked with distances every 1K, if you let us know you are participating for us, we will put your name in for a chance to win an annual St. Marks NWR pass, after signing up, email Lori Nicholson at Lori_Nicholson@fws.gov to let St. Marks NWR know you are signed up.)
  
• Lastly, we hope you share your challenge experiences on social media with the hashtag #walkforthewild2021 and #WildlifeRefuge
• 
  

To join the challenge register at https://www.virtualrunningclub.com/events/walk-for-the-wild/#tve-jump-17af881e6b5

Dear Educators,

My name is Aimee, I am a doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University studying science education with a focus on outdoor learning. I am developing a survey instrument to aid education researchers to better understand all the contributions and perspectives that outdoor educators bring to educational spaces. As part of the development process, I am looking for ~150 outdoor environmental educators to take this survey:

https://ncsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cOUbA2CHySKy0Jw

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete. As a thank you for your time and help, when you submit a completed the survey, you will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card.

Please contact me if you have any questions or comments. I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Thank you so much for your help!

Aimee

abfraulo@ncsu.edu

864.464.1069

Grants & Funding

1. Big Green Jumpstart
Deadline: September 28
Thanks to the support of a generous donor and the resources developed over the last year by Big Green and other incredible organizations like Green Schoolyards America, the Children and Nature Network, and the School Garden Support Organization Network, Big Green Jumpstart is offering $2,000 flash grants to schools across America. Learn more.

2. Innovation, Equity and Exploration (IEE) Workgroup Grant 
Deadline: September 30
American Heart Association is excited to announce a call for applications for 2021-2022 Innovation, Equity and Exploration (IEE) workgroups to address sugary drink and/or healthy hydration policy. The IEEs will mobilize broad expertise, external perspectives and advocacy capacity in a workgroup engagement model inclusive of health equity and causes of the social determinants of health and advancing the state, tribal or local policy agenda of the initiative. The workgroups will support dialogue on social, demographic, equity, policy and other trends related to specific sugary drink and/or healthy hydration policy. Each workgroup will provide specific deliverables to be completed by the end of the 12-month grant period. Funded workgroups would start in November 2021. Learn more.

3. Policy Campaign Grant
Deadline: October 15
American Heart Association wants to help fund advocacy campaigns supporting Voices for Healthy Kids policy priorities with a focus on health equity. They seek to support and drive local, state and tribal policy change efforts that will dramatically improve the health of children with a focus on those experiencing the greatest health disparities including Black, Brown, and Native children or from families from low income. They are particularly interested in funding in tribal nations and these states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas as well as counties and cities that demonstrate a high need. Learn more.

4. Pandemic Response and Safety Grants
Deadline: November 8
The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program provides grants to food processors, distributors, farmers markets, and producers to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against COVID-19. Learn more.

5. Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety (SPRS) Block Grant Program
Deadline: November 22
The Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety (SPRS) Block Grant Program provides grants to eligible state agencies and territories to support seafood processors, including at-sea processing vessels, to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against COVID-19. State agencies within select coastal States and American Samoa are eligible to apply directly to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for grant funds. Seafood processors interested in the SPRS should contact their state agency for more information. Learn more.

 

6. USDA announces $700M in grants to provide relief to agricultural workers
The USDA announced that $700 million in competitive grant funding will be available to help farm and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs. The Request for Application (RFA) will be announced in early Fall and will be open for 60 days. Read more.

Budding Botanist is now open!

 

Designed to further the mission of the Klorane Botanical Foundation, the Budding Botanist Grant will help students learn about plants, explore their world and inspire them to take care of the life they discover in their local ecosystems. In early 2022, eighteen high-need schools across the United States will be awarded $1000 in grant funding to support their youth garden programs.

 

Learn more about Budding Botanist

Any public school, charter school, or private school serving students in grades K-12 in the United States that can demonstrate that at least 40% of their student population would qualify for free or reduced price meals is eligible to apply. Applicants must be planning a new or expanding an existing school garden program designed to teach students about environmental sustainability and the importance of biodiversity. Previous Budding Botanist winners are not eligible. Applications are due October 29, 2021.

Calling all Florida, K-12 Teachers! We are hosting an exciting all-county Everglades Literacy Teacher Training virtually on Saturday, October 16th from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., with K-5 and 6-12 breakout rooms.

Teachers who attend this virtual training may earn PD points from their districts and are eligible to receive free, printed materials to implement lessons into the classroom.

More Information

Register today and be sure to share with other K-12 teachers who might be interested! Use this link to register.

Register Here

As LEEF continues its commitment to JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion), we share this exciting opportunity with you:

The Joy Trip Project is pleased to announce the release of the Anti-Racism in the Outdoor Resource Guide. Created by Dr. Don Rakow of Cornell University and Laura Brown of the University of Connecticut this annotated bibliography is a detailed list of articles and online content references that explore the complexed issues of racial disparities in the equitable access of all people to  the outdoors. In partnership with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin Madison this new recourse guide will be shared in a free Zoom panel discussion titled Everyone’s Earth: Conversations on Race and Environment on Thursday September 30th at 11:30AM Central Time.

“The Antiracism in the Outdoors Resource Guide was created to serve as a non-refereed resource to facilitate understanding of the history and impacts of racism in the parks and green-spaces for anyone hoping take action toward making outdoor recreation and environmental conservation more diverse, equitable and inclusive. The Guide includes national organizations, presentations & podcasts, affinity groups and resource lists, books, articles, general anti-racism resources and ally-ship resources, but it is by no means comprehensive.   So many voices and stories, particularly those of Black Indigenous, and People of Color have historically not been shared or raised up. We hope this will serve as a staring place to raise up, support, and build stronger collaborations around these issues.”
 

(Christopher Kilgour, Claudia Pineda Tibbs, Corina Newsome)

The panel discussion, sponsored by the Schlecht Family Foundation, hosted by the Nelson Institute and moderated by community relations liaison James Edward Mills, will formally introduce the ARITO Resource Guide and engage questions from a live online audience. The panelists include Christopher Kilgour, Founder of Color in The Outdoors, Corina Newsome, Community Engagement Manager, Georgia Audubon Society and Claudia Pineda Tibbs, Advisory Board, Latino Outdoors; Sustainability Manager, Monterey Bay Aquarium. Registration is required to attend and participants are welcome to ask their questions in advance. The organizers hope to encourage a rousing conversation that will continue at their respective campuses and at institutions of higher learning around the country. Please join us for this groundbreaking event.

Tiger Creek Preserve Outreach and Volunteer Specialist position is now posted and accepting applications until 10/22 at www.nature.org/careers Job ID# 50358.

This person will be joining a dynamic onsite team looking forward to celebrating the preserve’s 50^th anniversary in the upcoming year. They will also be teaming up with two other Outreach and Volunteer Specialists working together on building statewide supports to unlock the potential for community engagement at our individual preserves. To help us better connect with our increasing Spanish-speaking neighbors, we’re looking for someone able to communicate in Spanish and English

Position Summary

The Center Assistant, Admissions will support the Blair Audubon Visitor Center operations and guest services including Admissions, its Nature Store and Gallery Cafe sales, general visitor and volunteer assistance, and membership sales.

 

COVID-19 mitigation at the Center includes frequent sanitation, a Plexi glass partition, Merv-13 filtration system, timed ticketing, mask requirement inside the Visitors Center, and the closure of some amenities.

 

This is a full-time position working 40 hours per week. Ability to work evenings and weekends required.

More Information

Oct. 8, St. Petersburg. Email sdunifon@co.pinellas.fl.us for information or to register.

Nov. 9, Eustis. Go to www.universe.com/wetnov2021 for information or to register

Dec. 9, No. Miami Shores, Email seleefer@webtv.net for information.

The FMNP Invasive Plants course and all of the class presentations will be online via ZOOM, with in-person field trips. Please help me get out the word about this course to others who may be interested.

  FMNP Invasive Plants course - Leon County

October 1-29, 202
Live Online, On-Your-Own Activities & In-person Field Experiences
Registration closes at 10:00am on September 27, 2021
(Course Code: IP21-08 Schedule attached)

All classes will now be held live online via Zoom. The On-Your-Own activities are designed to extend learning and minimize in person contact time.
The field trips will still be in-person with safety guidelines. Alternative, self-guided field experiences can be approved by the instructor for people who are not local or are not comfortable about being outdoors in a group.

 

This course will educate participants in all aspects of invasive plants in Florida, including ecology, morphology, upland and aquatic invasive plants and native alternatives. People who complete this course will be able to identify important invasive plant species, understand the threats they pose, how to reduce them through prevention and control, and be prepared to teach others about invasive plants and how to limit their introduction and spread.

Register by Sept 27^th at  FMNP - Invasive Plants of Florida (ufl.edu)

Program Agenda