New position: Science Education Coordinator

Posted on by Kat Kavanagh

Water Rangers is looking for an exceptional human who want to change the water world and is obsessed with science education.

Water Rangers is a non-profit organization aiming to make water science easy to understand so that ALL Canadians can participate in water’s protection. We deepen our impact by providing tools and training so that anyone can understand, test, and protect waterways. Our platform is open-data and built for crowdsourcing water quality data. We’re always experimenting with new ideas on how to motivate and teach.

About you

The ideal candidate should:

  • Hold a degree in a relevant field (science education, sustainability, science communication, environmental science, biology, chemistry or similar)
  • Demonstrated skills in science education
  • Experience designing fun courses
  • Excellent communication and writing skills (experience in grant writing is a huge asset!)
  • Very organized and detail oriented
  • Outgoing and personable
  • Knowledge of Google Suite, WordPress, client relationship management systems
  • Social media skills
  • Able to drive with a valid drivers license
  • Willing to work some weekends and evenings depending on the activities that week (other days off will be given in lieu)
  • Basic photography, video skills
  • Ability to speak French fluently is a huge bonus

About the position

You will work with other team members and experts to develop an online course and teacher/educator resources. Course development includes two streams: regular, for those who wish to just learn how to test water; and teacher, for those who wish to teach others.

After developing online curriculum and resources, you will continually improve it by testing it with real people, including running seminars on water testing.

During the summer months, you will help manage summer students in the Education/Outreach position. In the Winter, you will reflect on ways to help systems scale and prepare resources for the upcoming spring and contribute to strategies to legitimize citizen science in decision-making.

From April until October, your focus will be in outreach activities. In this position, you will be responsible for preparing activities with youth and adult groups in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, with a focus on the Ottawa area. Starting with our existing educational and web resources, you will learn how to use our water testing kit and website to train water testers. Your main goal is to translate the experience of training people in-person to an online training experience, to automate / answer common questions, and build capacity to train more water testers.

We will spend time together as a team in our co-working space every week, but you will also have days that you work on your own, either at the office or in the field. We work on trust and independence, so this position requires you to:

  • Manage your own schedule based on priorities we set together weekly and report it to us using our project management tools
  • Check-in daily with what you’ve worked on
  • Creativity and enthusiasm for creating dynamic experiences for others (you will have a small budget for experimentation!)
  • Take initiative to research methods to achieve your goals, but also a willingness to ask questions
  • Pitch in to help others on important projects (e.g. getting ready for events, big orders)
  • If there are organization goals or tasks that take you away from work on your deadlines, to communicate how you plan on managing it
  • Choose at least one testing location so that you can participate in official monthly water testing (during the non-frozen months)

Your first week will be spent learning about existing systems and how we manage workflows. You will then begin to make your plans for each quarter with goals we will set together.

The logistics

This position is a 12-month contract, starting in April 2020, with potential to continue. This position is for 35 hours per week and earns $36,000 + 3 weeks vacation. The position will be based in Ottawa at Impact Hub Ottawa. Some travel will be required. Access to a vehicle is a bonus (and will be compensated at $0.52/km).

To be eligible, you must:

  • be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment;
  • be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment; and,
  • have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.

How to apply

Please include which position you’re applying for in your subject line, and email your resume to kat@waterrangers.ca.

We believe in show, not tell! Please include specific examples that support your skills (e.g. sample curriculum, photos, etc) as well as answers to the following questions:

  • How do you think science education can contribute to societal change?
  • What is your favourite body of water and why?

Please apply by March 9, 2020.

NOTE: Do not call. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.

Kathleen Murr teaching MP Mona Fortier how to conduct water tests