American Association of Museums
1575 Eye St. NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
www.aam-us.org
Members/Purpose: Helps to develop standards and best practices, gathers and shares knowledge, and provides advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community
Training: Hosts annual meeting; provides Standards and Best Practices for U.S. museums
Journals/Publications: Museum News magazine; Aviso monthly newsletter Job Listings: Jobs listed on website; most are not entry-level positions
American Association of University Professors
1012 Fourteenth St. NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-3465
www.aaup.org; aaup@aaup.org
Members/Purpose: College and university faculty members, administrators, graduate students, and the general public. Advances academic freedom and shared governance, defines fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and ensures higher education’s contribution to the common good
Training: Conducts training, meetings, and conferences
Journals/Publications: Academe; Faculty Salary Report
Job Listings: Website contains job listings
American Camp Association
5000 State Rd. 67 North
Martinsville, IN 46151-7902
www.acacamps.org
Members/Purpose: Camp owners, directors, counselors, camps, businesses, and students interested in resident and day camp programs for youth and adults
Training: Conducts camp standards and camp director certification programs; offers information services in several areas including educational programs
Journals/Publications: Guide to Accredited Camps; Camping Magazine; Facilities For Conferences, Retreats and Outdoor Education
Job Listings: Website contains job listings
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
8403 Colesville Rd., Suite 710
Silver Spring, MD 20910-33 14
aza.org
Members/Purpose: Network of zoo and aquarium professionals and organizations worldwide
Training: Offers professional training program; hosts annual conference and regional meetings
Journals/Publications: Connect monthly magazine Job Listings: Jobs listed on the website
Greenpeace Canada
250 Dundas St. West, Suite 605
Toronto, ON M5T 2Z5
Canada
greenpeace. org/canada
Greenpeace USA
702 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.greenpeace.org/usa
Members/Purpose: An independent campaigning organization that uses nonviolent direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future
Training: Available to members and employees
Journals/Publications: Variety of fact sheets, reports, and brochures available online
Job Listings: Jobs and internships posted on website
National Association for Interpretation
230 Cherry St.
P.O. Box 2246
Ft. Collins, CO 80522
www.interpnet.com
Members/Purpose: Professional organization dedicated to advancing the profession of heritage interpretation, serving members in the United States, Canada, and more than thirty other nations. Individual members include those who work at parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, commercial tour companies, and theme parks. Commercial and institutional members include those who provide services to the heritage interpretation industry
Training: Hosts international conference; provides national training to become a certified interpretive trainer; conducts region and section workshops
Journals/Publications: Legacy Magazine; The Interpreter Magazine; InterpNews; Journal of Interpretation Research; Interpretive Sourcebook
Job Listings: Job listings available online to members
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
www.audubon.org; join@audubon.org
Members/Purpose: Persons interested in ecology, energy, and the conservation and restoration of natural resources, with emphasis on wildlife, wildlife habitats, soil, water, and forests
Training: Local chapters sponsor education programs
Journals/Publications: American Birds; Audubon; Audubon Activist; Audubon Adventures; Wildlife Report
Job Listings: Job listings available on website
National Recreation and Park Association
22377 Belmont Ridge Rd.
Ashburn, VA 20148
www.nrpa.org
Members/Purpose: Park professionals, urban planners, and interested citizens advocating for parks, open space, and recreational opportunities for all Americans
Training: Hosts schools and conferences
Journals/Publications: P&R Magazine; Journal of Park and Recreation Administration; Journal of Leisure Research
Job Listings: Jobs listed on national and state affiliates’ websites (links in place)
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Dr.
Reston, VA 20 190-5362
www.nwf.org
Members/Purpose: To educate, inspire, and assist individuals and organizations of diverse cultures to conserve wildlife and other natural resources and to protect the earth’s environment in order to achieve a peaceful, equitable, and sustainable future
Training: Offers a range of education programs including Backyard Wildlife Habitat, NatureLink, Family Summits, Animal Tracks, National Wildlife Week, Campus Ecology, and Earth Tomorrow
Journals/Publications: National Wildlife; International Wildlife Conservation Directory
Job Listings: Provides information on job opportunities through website listings
National Wildlife Refuge Association
1901 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 407
Washington, DC 20006
www.refugenet.org; nwra@refugenet.org
Members/Purpose: Conservation clubs, National Audubon Society chapters, birding groups, NWR employees and retirees, and interested individuals. Seeks to protect the integrity of the National Wildlife Refuge system and to increase public understanding and appreciation of it
Training: Conducts education and information programs
Journals/Publications: Wildlife Refuge M Blue Goose Flyer
Job Listings: Jobs listed on website
North American Association for Environmental Education
2000 P St. NW, Suite 540
Washington, DC 20036
www.naaee.org
Members/Purpose: Individuals associated with colleges, public schools, nature centers, government agencies, and environmental organizations; associates include students in environmental education and environmental studies
Training: Hosts annual conference
Journals/Publications: The Environmental Communicator; newsletter; conference proceedings
Job Listings: Jobs and internships listed on website
Sierra Club
85 Second St., Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-3441
Members/Purpose: Protect the wild places of the earth, practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources, and educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment
Training: Arranges outings
Journals/Publications: Sierra magazine
Job Listings: Internships and jobs listed on website
Student Conservation Association
P.O. Box 550
Charlestown, NH 03603
www.thesca.org
Members/Purpose: Provider of national and community conservation service volunteer opportunities, outdoor education, and career training for youth
Training: Provides on-the-job training through volunteer and internship opportunities it facilitates
Job Listings: Volunteer, internship, and employment opportunities listed on website
Wilderness Education Association
900 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
www.weainfo.org
Members/Purpose: Educates the general public and outdoor leaders in the appropriate use of wildlands and protected areas by developing and implementing educational curricula and programs and by forming strategic alliances with federal land management agencies, conservation groups, and all organizations that benefit from wildlands and feel that the existence of wildlands is important to the quality of life. Trains and certifies outdoor leaders; operates in affiliation with more than forty colleges, universities, and outdoor programs. Conducts National Standard Program for Outdoor Leadership Certification
Training: Hosts an annual conference; offers training to employers, administrative agencies, insurance companies, and the public; sponsors special courses for experienced professionals
Journals/Publications: Journal of the Wilderness Education Association; Wilderness Education Association Newsletter
Job Listings: Jobs listed on website
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-Fourth St. NW
P.O. Box 97180
Washington, DC 20090-7 180
www.worldwildlife.org
Members/Purpose: Members in more than one hundred countries use the best available scientific knowledge and advance that knowledge where possible; WWF works to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on earth and the health of ecological systems
Training: Education for Nature Program
Journals/Publications: Focus newsletter; Living Planet Report
Job Listings: Job opportunities listed on the website

Environmental educators use a variety of skills, and many are transferable to other settings. Your respect for the natural environment, your ability to operate as an effective team member, and your strong communication skills would all be useful in the jobs shown below. If any of these job titles are of interest to you, be sure to explore them using the strategies discussed earlier in this blog/guide.
Conference coordinator
Counselor: career; financial aid
Educational administrator
Employment interviewer
Librarian
Lobbyist
Not-for-profit administrator
Public relations specialist
Researcher
Sales representative
Training specialist
Writer

As you can see from the list of job titles shown here, environmental educators are not just called teachers. Add to this list as you review job advertisements.

Camp director
Camp staffer
Director of education
Education naturalist
Educator
Environmental education instructor
Environmental educator
Instructor
Lecturer
Naturalist
Nature interpreter
Outdoor environmental instructor
Park naturalist
Park ranger
Professor (assistant, associate, full)
Program coordinator
Program director
Program instructor
Program leader
Program staffer
Senior naturalist
Teacher
Trip leader
Workshop manager

A range of potential employers is described in this section. Whether you are interested in working in a traditional educational setting (middle or high school, higher education), a nonprofit organization (national, regional, local), for a government agency (federal, state, local), or camps, information is pro vided that will help you in your job search. Read those sections that interest you and follow up on the information provided.
Middle and High Schools
There are some different settings to consider at the middle and high school levels. Public schools, private schools, and Department of Defense schools are three of the primary options.
Help in Locating These Employers. Public middle and high school jobs are usually well advertised, so be sure to check classified ads appearing in newspapers that serve the geographic area where you hope to work. If you are thinking about relocating, many of these classifieds can be found online. If there are specific schools where you’d like to work, contact them directly. In addition, specialized services, such as the American Association for Employment in Education’s Project Connect (aaee.org), offer job listings. A user name and password are required for access to this website and can be obtained through your college’s career office. Other websites, including kl2jobs .com or altavista.com, also list teacher job openings.
Private school positions are not as easy to find. Work with personnel at your college career office to find out more about the job fairs that are held and to obtain sources that list the schools and their contact information.
Department of Defense schools educate the children of military and civilian personnel who are in service both stateside and abroad. You can find out more about job opportunities and how to apply for them by visiting dodea.edu/home.
Higher Education
Institutions of higher education include community colleges, technical colleges, and public and private colleges and universities. Some community colleges in metropolitan areas can be as large as many private schools. Programs or departments looking for environmental educators might include natural resources, comparative ecology, oceanography, marine biology, environmental science and policy, and environmental studies, just to name a few.
Help in Locating These Employers. Many jobs available in higher education are advertised in The Chronicle of Higher Education (chronicle.com). Paper copies of this publication are widely available in college departmental offices and in the library. Nonsubscribers can view older job listings via their website. Individual college and university Web pages usually contain a link to current job listings. And environmentally related websites, such as Environmental Career Opportunities in Higher Education (ecojobs.com), will often include job advertisements for higher education.
Federal, State, and Local Governments
Park rangers and naturalists, docents, and field interpreters work as environ mental educators for local, state, and national parks. The National Park Ser vice, for example, employs environmental educators as interpreters at its various exhibits at national battlefield sites, national parks, and national monuments. Aside from leading interpretive walks and tours, educators also make presentations, help to create indoor and outdoor displays, and develop educational and supportive materials.
Help In Locating These Employers. Your best bet for locating federal jobs is the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s website (usajobs.opm.gov), or heck the websites of the various federal departments that are of interest to you. Nonprofitcareers.com also lists government jobs. State jobs are listed at state employment offices, in regional newspapers, and on websites. A later section shows the Internet addresses for personnel offices for each state. Local government jobs are often listed in local newspapers. Don’t hesitate to place a call to the personnel department to find out how they advertise their job openings.
National Nonprofit Organizations
Several very large national organizations are dedicated to the protection of the environment. Included in this group are the National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org), National Audubon Society (audubon.org), the Sierra Club (sierraclub.org), Student Conservation Association (thesca.org), Greenpeace (greenpeace.org/canada; greenpeace.org/usa), and the World Wildlife Fund (worldwildlife.org). Visit their websites to learn more about recent environ mental successes and issues.
Many of these groups have developed strong programs for the schools. Resource packets of education materials, with lesson plans, visuals and graphics, worksheets, ideas for projects such as the installation of a pond on school property, and plans to make equipment to use in gathering and displaying specimens are presented. These activity programs are developed by environ mental educators who work in settings other than the traditional classroom.
Help in Locating These Employers. Be sure to check the websites of each of the organizations listed above for national job listings and also for links to regional and local chapters that will have their own job listings posted. Also check the Nonprofit Career Center’s site (nonprofitcareer.com) and the Community Career Center’s site (nonprofitjobs.org).
Regional or Local Nonprofit Organizations
Alaska Center for the Environment, the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the Florida Oceanographic Society, and many other similar organizations employ staff naturalists whose charge is to create interpretive programs, analyze the value of land tracts proposed as donations to the trust, and perform the more mundane tasks of plant and animal identifications. Staffers also serve as program leaders and nature interpreters. Creativity and perseverance will be the key to finding regional and local non traditional environmental education jobs.
Help In Locating These Employers. Nonprofit organizations such as Action Without Borders (idealist.org) seek to find solutions to environmental problems, and they use the Web to advertise jobs for member organizations. A good “umbrella” website that you might want to visit is the Environmental Jobs and Careers page (ejobs.org). It has links to job listings and a lot of other valuable information for the job seeker. Another umbrella organization is GuideStar (guidestar.org). Their website can link you to hundreds of thou sands of nonprofit organizations. Entering the keywords environmental education will bring up almost 13,000 organizations. You can then link to these organizations and any jobs they have posted.
Camps
Camps are no longer just for children or operated just in the summer. A wide range of camps are in operation all year long and they serve every age group.
Many are focused on helping people learn about the environment.
Help in Locating These Employers. The American Camp Association website (acacamps.org) contains valuable information about careers in camping, including job descriptions, qualifications, professional development core areas, career potential, and how to prepare for a career in camping. Many camp jobs are posted at various Internet sites and can be accessed by searching with the keywords environmental education camp jobs. For example, aeoe.org lists camp jobs for boys’ camps, girls’ camps, coed camps, Canadian camps, and expedition programs. And be sure to review the websites associated with the organizations listed at the end of the section.

Those graduates seeking traditional classroom environmental education jobs will use a different strategy than those seeking nontraditional education jobs. Strategies are outlined for middle and high school educators, college and university educators, and nontraditional educators.
Middle and High Schools
If your employment goal is to teach middle or high school students and you want to include environmental issues in some of your classes, the road to a successful job hunt includes several steps. You’ll want to establish a credentials file at your college or university, utilize the network your professors and advisers have established, review job advertisements, attend job fairs, and con tact schools where you’d like to work.
Establish a Credentials File. Some college and university education departments or career offices administer credential files for their education majors. Files can include résumés, letters of recommendation, transcripts, writing samples, and limited portfolios. The use of these files reduces demands on professors in terms of having to write multiple letters of recommendation for their students and demands on the college’s transcription of office. Generally, all a student needs to do is complete paperwork that details where the file should be mailed and pay a fee to cover processing and mailing costs. Be sure to find out whether your institution offers this service.
Use Established Networks. Often your professors and career office professionals are well established at the institution and they have developed a wide network of contacts in the community, the city, and throughout the state. If you have earned the respect of your professors and have taken the time to work with the career professionals at your school, you will find that they are more than willing to provide contact names and insights into the schools that have posted job advertisements.
Review job Advertisements. Jobs at the middle and high school level are widely advertised, so you shouldn’t have any problem identifying current openings. Check local and regional newspapers. Don’t forget, many of these openings can be accessed via the Internet by searching the websites for news papers published in the area where you’d like to work.
Attend job Fairs. Your college or university may organize job fairs for education majors. These events bring together potential employers and the students who are looking for teaching jobs. Every school hiring official tries to identify candidates who will be a “good fit” for their school. Job fairs offer these officials an opportunity to informally meet with potential interviewees and develop lists of people who they’d like to know more about. Check with your career office and don’t overlook the importance of attending this kind of event.
Contact Schools Directly. As you finish your degree program you’ll have heard about various schools and school districts in your region and state, and you may have made some decisions about where you’d like to work. Don’t hesitate to contact these districts and schools directly to find out how you should go about applying for current and future positions.
Higher Education
The primary audience for the Great Jobs series includes those people who are going to or who have recently attained a bachelor’s degree. Nearly every teaching job in higher education requires a doctorate, so we won’t go into great detail here on the strategy for finding collegiate-level teaching positions. Note that three important tasks include networking at regional and national professional meetings held for your specific environmental discipline, utilizing contacts your adviser and committee may refer you to, and reviewing job listings in appropriate publications, including The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Government
As you might expect, a well-defined process is in place for federal, state, and local government employment. The Internet can be a valuable tool for helping you gain employment in the public sector. But don’t overlook the importance of networking. Review Section 4 as you think about seeking employment in the public sector.
Understand How the System Works. The federal government and each state and local government have a system in place that guides how new employees are evaluated and hired. Be sure you understand the system for the governmental unit in which you’d like to work.
Complete All Necessary Paperwork with Care. Part of the system mentioned above involves an application process that can oftentimes be completed online. Be sure to carefully read all instructions and follow them to a “T”; otherwise your application may be discarded.
Gather All the Required Supporting Documents. Be sure that transcripts and letters of support have been mailed, and check that others who must provide information needed to complete your application have done so.
Follow Up. Government employers are just like any other employer. They are interested in hiring people who want to work for them. So follow up on your government applications the same way you would if applying in the private sector.
Nonprofit Organizations
If you are interested in working in the nonprofit world, undertake these three essential activities: customizing your résumé for each job, highlighting relevant specialized skills you possess, and personalizing your interest in the organization’s mission. The following three sections describe the needed efforts.
Customize Your Résumé for Each job. Employers want to know that you read the job description that they crafted and paid to advertise. Don’t let your résumé look like it could have been written for any old job. Customize your objective statement, craft your work history to highlight the relevant experience you have obtained, and list course work that is directly linked to the job you will be performing.
Highlight Relevant Specialized Skills. In either your cover letter or your résumé be sure to describe any special skills you would bring to the job. You might be able to detail your ability to use spreadsheets and databases, or your knowledge of GIS, or your weekend use of a GPS as you hiked local trails. Don’t miss the opportunity to highlight your skills.
Personalize Your Interest in the Organization’s Mission. Many people choose to work in the nonprofit sector because they deeply believe in a cause and want to spend their life’s work furthering it. Your cover letter presents a good opportunity to express the feelings you have about helping others learn about the environment. Craft your letters carefully and see what a positive impact it will have on your job search.

Earnings for environmental educators will vary by the sector of the economy in which they are employed. Read on to learn more about starting wages in education (middle and high school, higher education), nonprofit, and government (federal, state, and local) organizations.
Middle and High Schools
Information about middle and high school teacher salaries at public schools is readily available through the school advertising the position. If a job advertisement does not include salary information, don’t hesitate to contact the school directly. General info about teacher salaries is published by the American Federation of Teachers and is available on their website (aft.org). Look for a table titled “Actual Average Beginning Teacher Salaries.” At the time of publication, the beginning salary range went from a high of $39,259 in Connecticut to a low of $24,872 in North Dakota. The average beginning teacher salary in the United States was $31,753.
Higher Education
Several factors affect the salary of environmental educators working in higher education. A few of these include the region in which the institution is located, whether the campus is in an urban versus rural setting, and the type of institution. For example, you will find variation among the average salaries paid at a community college versus a four-year university versus a comprehensive, doctoral-degree-granting institution. The Chronicle of Higher Education regularly prints articles about salaries. Copies of this publication are widely available on most college campuses, or you can visit their website (chronicle.com). You may also talk to your current or former adviser about starting salaries.
Nonprofit Organizations
Earnings for educators working in the nonprofit sector are sometimes lower than what is offered to teachers who are employed in traditional classroom settings. Salary survey information for nonprofit environmental educators is not available as such, but pay will vary with the level of supervisory responsibility, type of organization, number of employees, annual budget, scope of organization, and geographic area. Starting salary information available currently (late 2008) indicated that pay ranged from $11,700 plus room and board at an environmental camp to $37,200 at a national non profit organization.
Federal Government
New college graduates with a bachelor’s degree, no matter what the job title, can expect to obtain jobs at the General Schedule (GS) 5-7 level depending on academic achievement. Base salaries for these levels in 2009 was $28,623 to $34,740. GS pay is adjusted geographically, so many jobs pay a higher salary. If you would like to find out more about federal government salaries, visit the Office of Personnel Management’s home page at http://usajobs.opni.gov.
State Government
Job titles relating to environmental education will vary by state. And there will be multiple types of jobs within a state that require this kind of work. Therefore, you will find a wider range of salaries than at the federal government level. Your best bet is to find some sample job titles and descriptions that interest you, then check with the state employment office to find out the starting salary levels for those jobs. Information is available online, but each state arranges its employment information differently, so it may require patience on your part. Don’t hesitate to call the state employment office to obtain starting salary information once you have a job title or two that interest you. Section A lists the employment page for every state website.
Local Government
As with state government environmental education jobs, in local government the titles and salaries paid will vary. Contact the local governments (county, city, town) where you think you might like to work and talk with the human resources manager about job titles and related salaries, or check to see if employment information is shown on the local government’s website.
Career Outlook
Employment of environmental educators varies by employment setting. Traditional educational opportunities are expected to grow, and government employment is also expected to grow by about 10 percent. Review each of the sections below to learn more about the career outlook for the various sectors of the economy in which you may be interested.
Middle and Secondary Schools
The Occupational Outlook Handbook indicates that the number of open teaching positions will vary from good to excellent depending in part on school location and subject taught. Science teachers will be in demand, especially in western states, through the year 2014, while employment for secondary school teachers in general will grow as fast as the average (18 per cent to 26 percent) for teachers from kindergarten through the secondary grades.
Higher Education
Employment for college and university educators is supposed to grow much faster than the average (27 percent and above) through 2014 according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Please be aware that competition for full time and tenure-track jobs will be keen. More than one-third of this group of teachers works part-time in education. Some do so by choice, but an increasing number are forced into this category by a variety of changes taking place in the way colleges and universities operate.
Nonprofit Organizations
Official statistics for environmental education jobs in the nonprofit sector are not available. What we can tell you, though, is that we found thousands of job listings as we researched this blog/guide. Many were entry level and looked like reasonable places to begin a career in environmental education in a non traditional setting. Use the information in this section to explore the reality of finding employment in this sector.
Government
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s information on Tomorrow’s Jobs (bls.gov.oco), federal employment is projected to increase only slightly as more jobs shift to state governments and the use of private contractors continues.

Traditional environmental educators teach at various levels, including middle school, high school, and colleges and universities. The level that you choose will dictate the amount of education required for you to secure the proper credentials. Teaching at the middle and high school level requires a bachelor’s degree in education while college and university educators must have at least a master’s degree, and usually a doctorate.
Those teaching in nontraditional settings can bring quite a variety of degrees to any given job. Listings may state an education requirement in the following way: “biology, environmental science, or a related field.” The key here is the notion of a related field. If you can fulfill the basic position requirements, the actual major itself becomes less relevant.
Show That You Can Teach
Teaching is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be learned. No matter which environment you plan to teach in, you’ll need to prove that you can teach.
Middle and High Schools. Middle and high school science teachers who cover environmental issues usually prepare for their careers by completing a science education degree program. Such programs deliver content area such as biology, geology, chemistry, meteorology, resource issues, conservation, and geography in addition to courses that enable students to develop the skills necessary to handle a classroom, prepare lesson plans, and develop meaningful demonstrations, discussions, and other activities. The capstone for many of these courses of study includes a semester in which the student teacher leaves campus and actually teaches a course under the guidance of an experienced teacher. State certification often requires participation in the National Teachers Exam (NTE).
Teacher certification requirements vary from state to state. Some states have reciprocal certification agreements with a number of other states. You can check certification requirements on the Academic Employment Network website (academploy.com/resources.cfm). At the time of this writing, approximately forty-three states had certification requirements posted on the site.
Colleges. College and university teaching requires a terminal degree. This usually means completion of a doctorate. Some schools will, however, hire those who have completed all course work for the degree and lack only the dissertation. Junior and community colleges will sometimes hire full-time faculty with master’s degrees, but more often they are looking for those with a completed doctorate.
College and university teachers usually have not participated in formal education classes. Most often, college professors are thrown into the class room with little or no instruction on such topics as developing a syllabus, preparing for and delivering a lecture, or engaging students in classroom dialogue. Instead, they often model the style of their favorite professors, the ones who most inspired them, the teachers who most made them want to learn.
Nontraditional Settings. If your interest lies in working in nontraditional educational settings and you don’t have a degree in education, you’ll need to explain with concrete examples how your educational and work experiences have provided an opportunity for you to learn the teaching “tools of the trade.” This may be the time to do some extracurricular reading to learn more about education theory and how to educate populations of various ages. In any event, you will need to demonstrate very strong organizational and communication skills.

Often in the traditional classroom setting the learner is there only because it is required. Educators working in nontraditional settings have the pleasure of working with learners who want to be there! Members of the general public who are interested in the mission of your organization, teachers who want to learn more, schoolchildren escaping their school-day routine, or campers heading off for a day or more away from home all make for a lively audience and hence a fun and challenging workday.
Environmental educators work in a variety of nontraditional classroom settings. The settings we will focus on here include national, regional, and local nonprofit organizations and federal, state, and local governments.
Typical Workday Responsibilities
A variety of workday responsibilities await educators working in nontraditional settings. Work schedules may be nonstandard and working outdoors may he a regular part of the job. You’ll need to prepare to educate a variety of audiences and create appropriate resources to do so. In the following sections, read about each of these factors that affect individuals working in nontraditional environmental education.
Nonstandard Work Schedules
Imagine, if you will, an environmental educator working for a science center as an interpreter. The bulk of the work may take place in the summer months when the hours of the center are extended into the evening. Expectations for weekend work are also high as such institutions are open every day of the week to accommodate vacationers. Summer is when families can travel, when teachers have free time to take advantage of development activities, and when students are out of school and ready for opportunities like summer camps.
Working Outside
In a nontraditional setting there may be lots of outdoor work involved. Educators might be expected to construct outdoor displays, build trails and paths, lead interpretive hikes or canoe excursions on a pond or lake, or walk along the seashore at low tide to identify specimens.
Your Audiences Will Vary in Many Ways
Environmental educators working in nontraditional settings must be prepared for audiences with very different backgrounds, different degrees of preparation, and highly varying ages and abilities. When the ages of your audience vary, you must be flexible. For example, your assignment might be to develop a field experience that focuses on a local pond. If the audience is composed of fifth graders, you will have to be prepared to take a nontechnical approach with lots of hands-on examples, allowing the students to participate in the gathering of specimens. If the group is from Elder Hostel, you can accommodate people who are less needful of tactile examples and are much more willing and able to listen and learn effectively by simple observation. A group of visiting biologists will require yet another very different approach. You must be prepared for technical discussions, probing questions, and people who might disagree with your interpretation. You’ll need to know scientific names of specimens and be generally prepared at a much more technical level.
The General Public. In many positions, you’ll be expected to cover a variety of subjects. You’ll have to become an expert on a wide range of topics. Often the full range of natural history will become your world, from aquatic biology to landscape evolution, and from mammalian ecology to rock identification. For example, at the Science Center of New Hampshire, educators design and deliver programs aimed at the general public that focus on the northern forest, flowering plants, watershed ecology, and geology of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. They also design, build, and supervise the maintenance of displays. The tasks are wide-ranging; you’ll learn to be an environmental jack-of-all-trades.
A Destination for Class Field Trips. You might also be given an assignment to create opportunities for classroom teachers to bring their students to your natural history museum for field trips where the youngsters receive hands-on experiences with wildlife, earth science, and wetlands ecology. Environmental educators at such sites plan and lead field trips, identify areas suitable for river walks, and develop plant identification trails and interest points with significant elements of earth history. Again, the tasks and duties are highly variable.
Summer Learning Opportunities for School-Age Children. Many organizations offer environmental camps for children of all ages, for families, and even for teachers. The Audubon Society holds such camps. Program leaders have created programs that focus on the North Woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin, coastal kayaking along the rocky Maine coast, and trips that are directed toward bird-watchers. Search the Internet using the key words environ mental summer camp and you will be able to link to thousands of camps in the United States and Canada. All of these programs require individuals trained in the environment but also prepared to educate at many levels, from small children to teenagers and adult learners.
Professional Development Opportunities for Educators. Certain organizations provide opportunities for classroom teachers to enhance their knowledge of the environment. Summer institutes, where teachers can gain expertise in wetlands ecology, conservation and recycling, plant and wildlife identification, and earth science, for example, provide exciting settings for professional development.
Creating Effective Displays
Quite a number of organizations require staff to develop and maintain displays. Part of this is assessment of audience needs. Environmental educators can contribute to this end. A display does little to educate the public if it is poorly designed, too static, aimed at a level that is over the head of the intended audience, or too elementary. Educators can help produce interactive and hands-on experiences that both attract and educate students of all ages.
This category has such breadth it would be impossible to discuss all of the various settings in this type of blog/guide. You should be cautioned, if you are concerned about a nontraditional work schedule and/or responsibilities that require you to be exposed to the outdoors, to be sure to ask questions about job expectations during your interview. It is better to find out about these things up front than to have to deal with them after you’ve accepted the job.

The term traditional setting as used in this section refers to schools that offer formal classroom training via courses or programs of study. In this section we will address the three traditional settings where an educator can expect to teach courses in environmental studies. Those settings include middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities.
Let’s begin by examining tasks and duties that environmental educators share, regardless of the level at which they teach.
Developing a Teaching Plan
A teaching plan, whether it be for a two-week unit, a thirteen-week marking period, the semester, or an entire academic year can be a formidable task for a beginning teacher, no matter what the school level. It is best to start with an overall, broad list of the objectives of the course or unit and break the task down into manageable parts. Then it is relatively easy to carve out day-to-day lectures, presentations, activities, assignments, and discussions. Try for variety in your presentations. You can sometimes have a lecture-oriented class but sprinkle in educational video clips, in-class readings, group work, and discussion. Or try the Socratic approach in which you draw the information from the students instead of lecturing at them.
Developing Meaningful Assignments
Another skill that teachers learn is the development of meaningful assignments. Students, with too much frequency, speak of assignments in other classes where their instructor said, “Give me a twenty-five-page term paper on , and it is due on the last day of class.” You fill in the topic, any topic. Such general assignments lack direction and purpose. Assignments should improve students’ research, organizational, writings and critical- thinking skills. They shouldn’t be assigned just for the purpose of giving students something to do. Reading a thirty-page paper for content, clarity, mechanics, and grammar is a daunting task, let alone reading, perhaps, thirty of them! For a paper to help the student learn, there must be timely and effective feedback. You cannot simply read the paper and slap a C+ on it. There must be commentary, suggestions for improvement, and encouragement. The assignment of thirty-page papers will likely prevent you from making effective comments. A ten-page (or shorter) paper, when returned quickly, with solid criticism, where the student has the opportunity to improve his or her work is often superior to a “minibook” of thirty pages. In addition, having the paper due at the end of the semester will prevent the student from reviewing the paper and making improvements. There may not even be an opportunity for the student to receive any feedback at all!
Evaluating Student Progress
Perhaps one of the most difficult skills that a new educator must acquire is the ability to evaluate a student’s progress. This skill does not come automatically or even easily. It requires effort, practice, experimentation, and trial and error. Fair, objective, and timely grading policies are essential. Sometimes assignments reinforce the notion that the students did not distill the amount of knowledge that you had planned or that they’d missed the point of the presentation or demonstration. You thought it was clear; maybe it wasn’t. Yet grading assignments, essays, and exams can also be rewarding. When you read a clearly expressed thought that shows the student has synthesized information, you are filled with a sense that you have successfully imparted knowledge. Those are the exciting moments that make teaching so worthwhile!
Accommodating Different Learning Styles
One of the skills that an educator must develop is that of accommodating different learning styles. Most people would likely teach in the way that they learn best. Some people learn from a lecture very easily while others need to be able to see flow diagrams, photographs, schematics, and maps, and rely on connections between verbal examples and concrete materials. Still other students must have a participatory experience in order to fully grasp concepts. Educators develop techniques that are aimed toward a variety of these learning styles so that all students can benefit from a presentation. Perhaps you will incorporate a number of teaching styles in a single class meeting, or perhaps over the course of a few weeks you will present it in different ways.
Now let’s compare and contrast several factors as they relate to the two settings we’ve been discussing, middle and high school versus college.
Typical Workday Responsibilities. Comparing the middle and high school work environment to that of the college setting is difficult because, even though teachers work in all three levels of education, their duties, responsibilities, and schedules are quite different. For example, many college professors don’t take attendance in their classes and some don’t even require it. The middle and high school teacher, on the other hand, must be careful to account for each and every student, each and every hour. Middle and high school teachers meet frequently with parents to discuss student progress or other issues. College professors seldom, if ever, have such meetings.
College professors have significant freedom to teach what they believe to be the truth; sometimes such issues are controversial, but owing to the maturity of the audience, subjects can be covered that could not be broached with younger students. The teaching schedule for the middle and high school teacher is often quite rigid with little flexibility, while at the college level, there is sometimes the opportunity to cancel a class, reschedule for another hour, or hold a meeting outside the prescribed time frame for the course. Teachers at the middle and high school levels frequently have five to seven class meetings per day. They often have a free period when they can regroup, work on assignments, grade papers, prepare for the next class, or have a peaceful lunch. College professors, on the other hand, have classes that meet with much less frequency. Typically, professors at institutions where the primary focus is on teaching might be assigned three to four classes per semester that each meet two to three times per week for a total of nine to twelve hours. At large research institutions, professors are often responsible for one to two classes per semester in addition to their research and writing, Of course, there are lots of other duties and expectations for the college professor, including committee work and office hours.
Student Behavior. Another significant difference between the middle and high school setting and the college setting has to do with student behavior. Discipline is not a problem for the majority of college and university professors. Most college-age students do not disrupt classes. They have chosen to pay a sum of money to be in attendance. College students want to learn. There are exceptional cases where a student behaves inappropriately, but these are few and far between. At the middle and high school levels, however, dealing with student behavioral problems is a daily part of the teacher’s job. Additionally, most colleges a universities don’t enforce dress code, while very strict dress codes are in place at many middle and high schools.
Classroom Management. If you have prepared for a teaching career in the middle or high school classroom setting, you most likely have taken a number of education courses where you first observed a classroom, then learned how to develop lesson plans, and finally learned to manage a classroom. You likely became aware very quickly that classroom management can be challenging. Students in middle and high schools are not there necessarily because they wish to be. There often is lots of resistance to learning, and many adolescents try to impress their friends and classmates, often with disruptive behavior. Classroom management is a skill that can be learned. Over time most teachers develop a very good set of techniques to handle various situations, and you will too.
College and university professors, surprisingly enough, usually have had no formal training in this area. As mentioned earlier, this is not often a problem at this level. But classroom management is not confined merely to disciplinary matters. Timing and pace are critical. Did I deliver this material effectively? Did the students follow the material? Was my presentation well organized? Did I allow enough time for questions? Was the pace too slow or did I dwell on a single point too long? All of these are management issues that you will learn to deal with as your experience grows.
Supervision. College and university professors receive much less direct supervision compared to middle and high school teachers. For example, college professors may go weeks without hearing from their department chair outside of department meetings, while principals are much more attentive to supervisory responsibilities.
Scope and Depth of Environmentally Related Courses
Middle school and high school teachers will primarily teach individual courses that include environmentally related subjects, while college and university teachers focus their attention on specific kinds of environmental subjects. A note is appropriate here on environmental education at the middle and high school levels. Few public schools have distinct courses that focus on the environment. A new teacher would most likely be able to include units that emphasize the environment in an earth science, chemistry, or biology class, but it is less likely that the teacher would be given the opportunity to deliver a course with a primary focus on environmental issues. Higher education has many more opportunities to focus solely on environmental issues. The remaining four paths—environmental policy, planning, and management; environmental sciences; environmental technology; and environmental engineering—are all areas in which the college or university environmental studies professor might specialize.
Academic Freedom
Creativity and content at the middle and high school levels are limited by local and state standards. Certain topics must be thoroughly addressed. You have some input into the material covered, but you are governed by external forces such as local school boards and state boards of education. It is likely that course textbooks will be selected by someone other than you. They may not be the latest editions, and the material could be out of date. It is your job to use the best material from these texts and add in more current information of your own from other sources. There are ways, then, that you can be creative even when you find yourself in a restrictive environment.
The college or university setting is very different from middle or high school. The level of freedom and creativity is not remotely comparable. A committee of the discipline responsible for the course usually governs course content for introductory classes. But the development of upper-level classes is usually at the discretion of the faculty member offering the course. This is where creativity enters the profession, because the topics covered are those that you regard as important or interesting. Not a committee, not a school board, nor a state or federal mandate.
Other Duties
You can expect lots of other duties aside from teaching science classes. Often, middle and high school teachers are expected to monitor study halls, take a turn at lunchroom duty, and act as chaperones for various activities. There are department and schoolwide meetings to attend and parent-teacher conferences to prepare for. Some teachers are asked by their students to act as advisers for clubs or the yearbook. Some serve as a coach for an athletic team or a club sport. None of these activities are to be regarded as exceptional; they are merely part of a typical day. Attendance records; evaluations; grading of quizzes, exams, and essays; and preparation of report cards will consume your time. Most of this work is accomplished outside of school hours. Planning for classroom presentations, creating meaningful activities, designing assignments, and preparing lectures demand a great deal of time and energy. But preparation of these sorts of materials and activities is fun!
Teaching in Traditional Settings
Here are some final notes to consider.
All That Time Off! You might have noticed that we didn’t mention the amount of time away from the responsibilities of the classroom. Sure, educators at all levels do enjoy long breaks. But those breaks are simply from classroom meeting time. Most educators will spend much of their break time working. There is an endless parade of meetings, planning sessions, curriculum development workshops, reading, lecture writing, course revision, professional development, research, travel to professional meetings, and committee meetings. But even with all of these demands, you still have considerable flexibility during your time off. You have a large measure of control over when, where, and how you focus your time and effort.
The Reality of Teaching. Some aspects of a teaching career in middle and high schools are not all positive, and you are likely already aware of many of these. Student behavioral problems are principal among these. Lack of sup port from both parents and administrators is often cited by veteran teachers as an issue. Declining budgets resulting in a lack of resources have been suggested as problems for decades. And dealing with an uncooperative school board is a difficulty encountered by teachers in some districts.
Those interested in teaching in higher education also need to be aware of several kinds of situations. It can be very difficult to get tenure, and some candidates do not get a decision until well into their service period at the school. In addition, some universities face the budget challenges often found at the middle and high school levels. This can result in facility degradation, old equipment, and inadequate library holdings.

Before we begin defining teaching in both the traditional classroom setting and other nontraditional settings, let’s look at some recent job listings.

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Earth Science Teacher. Area senior high school full-time position available for the upcoming school year. School-based experience preferred and a degree in earth science a must. Send letter of interest, résumé, standard application, certificate, transcripts, and three reference letters to:
Earth Science Instructor. Community college currently seeking full-time, continuing contract (tenure-track) professor; prefer specialization in geology and/or oceanography; credentials in more than one physical science preferred. Minimum requirements include master’s degree from accredited institution and eighteen graduate semester hours in geology, oceanography, or other related field. Teaching experience, knowledge of discipline, awareness of current trends in instruction, and experience with instructional technology. Salary based on credentials and experience. We offer excellent employer-paid benefits package. For information specific to credentials and assignments, e-mail to:
Visiting Assistant Professor. In Wildlife Ecology (non-tenure-track, nine month appointment), Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern University. Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Wildlife Management degree program (B.S.) and Applied Ecology Option (M.S.). Ph.D. or All but Dissertation. If ABD, a minimum of eighteen hours of graduate course work In wildlife ecology or a closely related discipline is required); degree(s) must be from a regionally or internationally recognized institution. The following required for online application: (1) curriculum vita, (2) cover letter including specific area(s) of teaching expertise, and (3) teaching philosophy. Other required documents include (1) contact information of three professional references, (2) copies of official transcripts, and (3) three letters of reference. These materials can be attached to online application, or mailed to:
Naturalist (Forest Preserve District of a County). Contribute to the preservation of natural and historic resources and habitats, flora, or fauna; restore, restock, protect, and preserve such lands for the education, recreation, and pleasure of all county citizens. Under general supervision of the Nature Programs Manager, develops and conducts environmental awareness programming for youth groups and the general public. Directs interns and seasonals on day-to-day operational tasks. Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecological sciences, environmental education, or closely related field. Full-time. Starting pay $39,600. Send cover letter and résumé to:
Program Staffer (Church-Related) Youth Camp. Seeking program staff to teach outdoor/environmental education, to facilitate leadership/challenge program, and to facilitate group programming for the nine-month school year. Teach grades 4 - 8 during one- to three-day programs, facilitate curriculum development, and facilitate work projects with other staffers. Salary is $1,200 per month, full health and dental benefits, matching 403(b) retirement, one week paid vacation plus Christmas break and holidays, free housing, most meals provided. Can also apply for summer position to make it a year-round job. Must have college degree with course work in related subjects and passion for improving the environment. Apply online:
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What are the common threads that run through all of these jobs? If you reread the descriptions, you will find that each position, as well as all other positions in environmental education, demands that you:
• Love to teach
• Respect the natural environment
• Operate as an effective team member
• Develop and prepare educational materials
• Present educational programs
• At tend to administrative duties
• Undertake other, setting-specific duties
Build on Your Love of Teaching
Opting to follow a career path in teaching environmental studies must be carefully pursued because, as with any teaching position, the subject matter becomes subordinate to its delivery. In other words, your sheer love for the environment will not ensure success in teaching. An environmental educator must not only love his or her subject but also experience satisfaction from working with the clientele, that is, students. Environmental educators, like all educators, are just that: they are teachers first, and environmentalists second. For you to be a successful educator, it must be apparent to your students that you are enthusiastic about being in the classroom and about your subject! Not everyone is prepared to elect education as a career path. For those who do, there are considerable rewards and some drawbacks, too.
Respect the Natural Environment
No matter where you may find yourself employed as an environmental educator, your respect for the natural environment was a driving force in your career choice. Whether it was your disgust at seeing dead birds and fish lying along an oil-covered river bank in Louisiana after the accidental release of waste oil during a storm, or simply an overgrown, trash-strewn lot in your neighborhood that you passed on the way to school, this interest in the environment has led you to want to teach others to prevent problems or mitigate them once they have occurred. Somewhere, somehow, you acquired an extraordinary appreciation for the natural world, and you derive a sense of accomplishment from teaching others.
Operate as an Effective Team Member
Educators work with overseers, administrators, peers who are specialists in their own fields, support staff, and, often, volunteers. You will be called on to interact effectively with the group of professionals you’ll work with. Whether it is in a middle school with a counselor, in a high school with a curriculum coordinator, in a college with your department chair, in a government organization with the chair of the board of directors of a for-profit institution, or in a nonprofit agency with a group of volunteer workers, you’ll need to be able to operate successfully in a team environment.
Develop Audience-Specific Educational Materials
Knowing your audience is critical to your success as a teacher. In the following section we discuss some working conditions that affect the materials you prepare to use in your teaching. A presentation to a group of fourth graders will he different from one that focuses on the same subject matter but is directed to an eighth-grade class. A field trip with high school students must emphasize hands-on instruction, because if you just talk at the students, you will quickly bore many of them. You’ll find a few listening, a few more looking around, and a cluster at the back of your group whispering about what they will be doing over the weekend. And you must tailor the presentation not only to the group but also to the setting. Environmental educators have to devote lots of time to planning projects and to field preparation to develop real-world examples, both good and bad, of prevention practices, the results of environmental decisions, and remediation and mitigation strategies.
Present Audience-Specific Educational Programs
There may be great variability in your class’s receptiveness to learning, depending on whether they are required to be in attendance or not. And the age of your class will play a major role in how you go about presenting your material. Working with high school sophomores who are in a required science class will be very different from educating adults who have signed up to learn more about the local habitat that supports a colony of loons.
Attend to Administrative Duties
Teachers at the middle and high school levels must deal with lots of meetings, both with staff and with parents. Additionally, they must attend to lots of record keeping, grading of papers, development of assignments and presentations, and myriad other duties. College teachers have similar duties, though dealing with parents is not usually among them. At this level, fewer assignments are required, so the amount of record keeping is reduced. But effective presentations and assignments are required, and grading is also essential. Students learn more effectively if they receive written feedback from an assignment soon after it has been turned in. If a great deal of time passes between the due date and the return of assignments, students tend to pay less heed to suggestions for improving their work. They often forget the con text of the assignment and have moved on to other priorities.
Undertake Other Setting-Specific Duties
The range of other duties you will be responsible for undertaking varies with the work setting. While the middle school teacher who is called on to teach general science might also be charged with teaching earth science, a high school science teacher offering a class in biology may be responsible for serving as the adviser to one of the school’s clubs. College professors who have their doctoral degree in environmental biology may be expected to undertake a community outreach effort, such as developing a plan to preserve a local natural area that has been deeded to the community, and an environ mental interpreter working for a nonprofit organization may be responsible for feeding animals housed at the center. The point is that you must be sure that you understand the full range of duties your environmental educator position will require. The job descriptions shown throughout this section provide a sense of the range of tasks that fall within a given type of job.