Job Type: Seasonal Full Time
Location: Townsend, TN
Compensation: Salary $425/week, plus meals and lodging. On-site housing provided with monthly utilities paid by the Institute. Paid professional development including First Aid and Red Cross Lifeguard Certification.
Duration: May 26-July 17, 2026
Our Values and Culture
- We create experiential education programs focused on the natural world, knowing such learning and research opportunities are uniquely suited to bring about life-changing outcomes in individual passion for learning, sense of worth, and behavior.
- We believe a lost connection with the natural world can be repaired ,beginning with experiences that take place in the original classroom—the outdoors. We believe such experiences produce cascading results that enrich individual lives, strengthen communities, and empower community members.
- We celebrate the distinctive setting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) provides as a living laboratory to explore the biodiversity that forms the building blocks of healthy ecosystems, examine past and present human impacts on the land, and navigate questions about how to best support the land that supports us.
- We carry out our mission with both urgency and joy, recognizing that the work of connecting people and nature could not be timelier.
We are seeking passionate science educators to join our team. Community Science Educators play a crucial role in cultivating a science identity among campers and colleagues, working to demystify the study and exploration of nature by creating accessible pathways into science that are fun, engaging and welcoming.
Briefly, responsibilities include the following (more details listed in the position description):
- Lead residential summer programs that offer campers opportunities to focus intensely on the study of nature. Develop and implement activities that focus on hands-on nature investigations and research.
- Assist with ecological monitoring projects as part of our community/citizen science engagement with the public. Projects may include studies of birds, salamanders, trees, and soil respiration.
- Work with other members of full-time and seasonal staff to effectively cover the needs of all camps, including set up, cleaning, and maintenance of program spaces.
- Demonstrate curiosity by continually exploring areas of interest.
Please see the full position description for more details.
