Come Join The Riveredge Team
More than a nature center
It is a 52-year legacy as a pioneer in the areas of land restoration, research, and inquiry based education throughout Wisconsin serve as a strong foundation to its future initiatives.
Supporting community
Today, Riveredge is reimagining the role of the nature center by empowering and supporting communities to live in harmony with their natural environment in a way that encourages exploration, adventure, and fun, while contributing to the overall quality of life for our neighbors throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
Be your authentic self
The Riveredge team values diversity – in who we are, in how we think, and how we accomplish audacious goals together. Everyone is invited to bring their authentic self to their work: their passions, their interest, their skills and talents. We strive to build and demonstrate a growth mindset; we learn from each other and continually seek to get better in our positions, and as people, every day. We promote equity, support one other, and build diverse teams where each member can bring their unique strengths with them to the table.
Open Positions
Environmental Educator Part-time
This Environmental Educator serves as part of the Riveredge Nature Center team of staff and volunteers. This position is responsible for teaching environmental education programs to families, adults and school-aged students, and the delivery of educational events throughout the year. This is a part-time position with a cap of 990 hours for the year, with the majority of programming happening between the months of March and November.
Grants Specialist Full-time
The Grants Specialist serves as an essential part of the Riveredge Nature Center team of staff and volunteers. This position is responsible for supporting fundraising initiatives through the timely preparation of grant applications, drafting foundation proposals, prospect research for designated and operational funding through a variety of sources, and aiding with other organizational communication pieces as needed. Application deadline: January 17, 2022.
Special Events and Volunteer Manager Full-time
The Special Events & Volunteer Manager serves as part of the Riveredge Nature Center team of staff and volunteers to provide support to programs and functions of the nature center through event and volunteer management. This includes collaborating with staff to ensure the success of the programs, events, and overall operations as well as designing systems to recruit and retain a cohesive volunteer team. The position is responsible for providing key leadership, oversight, and hands-on assistance to a range of special events. Application deadline: January 10, 2022.
Communications and Marketing Assistant Part-time
This position is responsible for supporting programming, research, and conservation efforts by communicating their work to those outside of the organization. This position has primary responsibility for the Riveredge website, social media presence, new mobile app, email and print newsletters, and general event/program marketing. Application deadline: January 12, 2022
Internships
If you have questions please contact interns@riveredge.us.
Environmental Education Summer Camp Intern Full-time, June-Aug
The Riveredge Nature Center Environmental Education Summer Internship is a unique opportunity for a person just entering the environmental education field who is willing to learn and work with a dedicated group of staff and volunteers. The intern will assist with Riveredge Nature Journeys Summer Camp programs. Depending on the goals of the selected intern, she/he may also assist, observe, and lead Youth and Family programs as well as
Summer Day Adventure programs. If the Intern chooses to take college and university credit with this program, Riveredge staff will work with him/her to fulfill requirements when applicable. This position is responsible for teaching environmental education programs to school-aged students, families and adults, and the delivery of education events. The position is full time June through August.
Community Rivers Program Summer Outreach Full-time, June-Aug
This program is rooted in a community-based approach to transforming the Upper Milwaukee River Watershed through the engagement of rural municipalities and their citizens in its region. The work conducted through CRP will inspire residents to care about their watershed, educate them about the challenges faced by the watershed, and engage them in changing land management practices to help improve the habitat and quality of water in the watershed. The Community Outreach and Watershed Health Assistant will achieve this through a series of personal engagement, adventure activities, and asset based community-wide efforts. The Community Outreach and Water Watershed Health Assistant is a critical component in the outward facing work of CPR throughout the summer as well as the internal process of tracking our progress, goals, and relationships established over time. This position will spend approximately 50% of the time allocated conducting research and completing programmatic administrative tasks and 50% of the time allocated in the field/conducting outreach.
Lake Sturgeon Streamside Rearing Facility Intern Part-time, May-Sept
Lake sturgeon are the oldest and largest native fish found in the Great Lakes ecosystem. They were extirpated from the Milwaukee River over 100 years ago. Starting in 2006, Riveredge Nature Center teamed up with the Wisconsin DNR to reintroduce sturgeon by raising fingerlings in a streamside rearing facility (SRF) located on our property. This facility enables the sturgeon to imprint on Milwaukee River water so they return to it to spawn when they are adults. The goal of this project is to raise 1,000 – 1,500 fish per year over 25 years which will provide enough mature adults to support a breeding population of lake sturgeon in the river in the future.
Native Orchid Research Full-time, June- Aug
Native orchids are under severe threat due to loss of habitat or changing habitat conditions and many species are likely to become extinct unless action is taken to conserve them and their fungal partners. Promoting efforts to conserve habitats and to restore native orchids where populations have declined will be essential to the future of these fascinating plant species. Native orchids are known to occur at Riveredge and nearby Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area. This is a long-term project, but 2019 internship support will focus on investigating the biological requirements of several orchid species by collecting baseline information at reference sites where they occur; assisting with hand pollination; and identification of suitable sites for future outplanting of lab propagated seedlings. Field work will occur at Riveredge and other sites in adjacent counties.
Ornithology Research Full-time, June- Aug
Riveredge Nature Center has a 30 year history of surveying its resident and migrating avian populations. We are looking for an individual to locate nests and monitor nesting success within oak woodland, riparian mesic forest, and fen habitats. This individual will also assist in our banding operations and the collection of this June’s breeding bird survey across 177 acres of varied habitat.