The Assistant Marine Coordinator (hereafter, the “Marine Fellow”) is a full-time two-year position in The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Marine Conservation Fellowship Program (MCFP). The position is designed to build well-qualified, experienced marine resource managers who will provide critically needed leadership and capacity for the sustainable management of Hawai‘i’s marine resources into the future. This position is for a Marine Fellow who will serve from August 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023.
Marine Fellows will be trained in a variety of professional and leadership skills and conduct on-the-ground marine conservation work with TNC staff and partners. During the two-year program, the Marine Fellows will assist in the development, implementation, management, monitoring, and coordination of science and community-based marine conservation projects throughout the main Hawaiian Islands. The first year of the fellowship program is focused on professional development and skills building in relevant natural sciences, project management, strategic planning, resource monitoring, community capacity building, public policy, outreach and communications, leadership development, and more. During the second year of the fellowship, the Marine Fellow will work with program leadership to develop and complete a capstone project in a topic area relating to and augmenting priority marine conservation work.
The successful candidate brings strong partnering skills and an ability to clearly articulate and overcome obstacles to pursue their conservation career goals, interest in the MCFP, and commitment to supporting local community-based marine conservation in Hawai‘i. Fellowship questions can be directed to Sean Marrs at smarrs@tnc.org.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Primary duties and functions of a Marine Fellow include:
- Actively participating in a learning program to develop leadership skills and core competencies in marine conservation.
- Documenting work and learning progress through a journal and regular reports and meetings with Program Leadership.
- Assisting TNC, NOAA and other project partners in planning, managing, monitoring, and assessing the effectiveness of marine conservation projects.
- Coordinating and participating in community volunteer events.
- Interacting respectfully and appropriately with community and government partners while assisting with priority field and office work.
- Cultivating long-lasting, professional relationships with community, academic, government, and other partners.
- Assisting in the development and implementation of conservation action and fisheries management plans.
- Interacting regularly with marine fellowship graduates to share experiences and lessons learned.
- Building and managing project databases in a variety of software programs (e.g., Excel, ArcGIS).
- Monitoring biological and human-use indicators.
- Providing feedback on and contributing to the growth of the MCFP.