Posted: Open to internal and external applicants
Reports to: Empathy fellowship coordinator
Status: Full-time, hourly, benefitted position
Duration: Grant-funded position for one year, March 2020–March 2021
Hours of work: Standard Monday–Friday workweek, 8am–5pm. Flexible schedule required: this position will commonly work weekends and evenings to accommodate outreach program and community needs.
Date needed: March 2020
Posting expires: Tuesday, February 4, 2020, end of day
About the organization:
The Seattle Aquarium is a respected authority on Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the world’s one ocean. Our passionate staff increases awareness and drives the change needed to preserve and protect our marine environment through a variety of channels, including a compelling exhibit experience and engaging daytime and evening events; conservation education programs for people of all ages and backgrounds; community outreach to underserved populations; research that advances understanding of animals in our care and their counterparts in the wild; advocacy and policy work; an award-winning volunteer program; strong and consistent marketing efforts; and more.
We’re noted for our collaborative, communicative and team-oriented working environment. Our values, developed in conjunction with our staff, include commitments to adopting and promoting sustainable practices; creating awe-inspiring experiences; constantly learning and improving; fostering an inclusive community; maintaining scientific credibility through evidence-based practices; and honoring our unique place by using our location and history as a lens for larger understanding.
Proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, we’re the eighth-largest aquarium in the U.S. by attendance and we welcome over 850,000 people through our front doors each year. Guided by our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment, we’ve developed a master plan to substantially increase in size and impact by opening a new exhibit building, the Ocean Pavilion. Our current annual budget is $18 million.
Position description:
Seattle Aquarium is hiring three full-time empathy fellows to join the community engagement (CE) team. Empathy fellows will have opportunities to learn about local marine life and conservation efforts, develop personal and professional goals, and become effective educators, facilitators and advocates for marine conservation, empathy and their communities. Fellows will culturally and linguistically reflect the community in which they will be working.
Throughout the course of a year, as part of the grant-funded Expanding Empathy for our Marine Environment program, the empathy fellows will research, implement and present on individual empathy community action projects (ECAPs) in order to apply all that they have learned to a real-world marine-conservation-related issue that impacts themselves and their community.
Empathy fellows will also support the marine education outreach programming the Community Engagement team provides to our Connections partners in the role of outreach educators, delivering empathy-based marine conservation programming within historically marginalized communities in the Salish Sea region. The empathy fellowship will begin in 2020 and follow a one-year cohort model with up to three fellows per year, with each fellow providing empathy programming within their communities.
The empathy fellowship is designed to create a pipeline into careers in aquariums, zoos and the conservation field for communities of color and other marginalized communities who bear the brunt of environmental harm and historically have not reaped the benefits of the solutions proposed. The empathy fellowship will offer job experience in the marine conservation field with a focus on the role that empathy can play in both marine conservation and addressing the disproportional impact of environmental degradation on communities of color and other marginalized communities.
Following completion of the program, the Seattle Aquarium will offer wraparound services for alumni. These wraparound services include (but are not limited to): support for attending empathy-related conferences; mentoring the next cohort of fellows; networking opportunities; and professional development planning. Participation in alumni wraparound services is encouraged but is not a requirement to participate in the fellowship itself. There are funds in the empathy project grant available to support participation in the alumni wraparound services beyond the one-year period of the fellowship.
Outcomes for empathy fellows:
- Fellows will increase their capacity as effective educators, facilitators and advocates for marine conservation.
- Fellows will feel equipped and empowered to pursue careers or further learning in marine conservation.
- Fellows will use empathy for people and animals as a tool for environmental justice and marine conservation in their communities.
About the Fostering Empathy for Wildlife project: We define empathy as a stimulated emotional state that relies on the ability to perceive, understand and care about the experiences or perspectives of another person or animal. Research shows that encouraging and developing empathy for animals is an important motivator toward action on the animals’ behalf. Employing empathy framing allows our audiences to see animals as unique individuals worthy of care and conservation. Additionally, research tells us that building empathy for people and animals activates the same parts of the brain, therefore we are particularly interested in the intersections of environmental justice, community outreach and marine conservation.
Essential functions:
- Work in collaboration with the Community Engagement team to create and deliver empathy-based outreach programming with our Connections partners.
- Identify, research, plan and implement a personal empathy community action project (ECAP) with the intent of developing empathy toward marine life and people within the Salish Sea region.
- Participate in all workshops, professional development trainings and guest talks coordinated by the empathy fellowship coordinator. Topics include: diversity and equity, marine conservation, community engagement and more.
- Support recruitment of next year’s fellowship class at off-site and on-site community events such as outreach programs, fairs, festivals and field conservation.
- Participate with building on relationships in various communities with existing and new Connections partners.
- Meaningfully and respectfully engage community members of all ages with marine conservation activities at off-site and on-site community events such as outreach programs, fairs, festivals and field conservation. Opens in New Window
Additional responsibilities:
- In collaboration with the empathy fellowship coordinator and the Community Engagement team, provide support for colleagues throughout the Aquarium, seeking to make the Aquarium and our programs more welcoming and inclusive for all.
- Active commitment to developing personal and professional development skills, including but not limited to:
- Public speaking: presenting ECAP, share-outs at staff meetings.
- Networking: participating in informational interviews.
- Areas of growth defined by fellows: fellows will have the opportunity to identify and develop their own personal and development goals.
Required skills, abilities:
- Interest in marine science and conservation.
- Interest in fostering empathy for people and animals as a conservation tool.
- Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing.
- Demonstrated commitment to environmental justice and desire to serve communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation.
- Interest in engaging courageous conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion topics such as social, racial and environmental justice.
- Enthusiasm and skill for developing relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and building strong ties with the community.
- Fellows should self-identify from historically marginalized communities in the Salish Sea region.
- Familiarity and comfort working with MS Office programs, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook.
- Washington or other state driver’s license, or eligibility to obtain one upon arrival and good driving record. Must complete a motor vehicle check as part of the hiring process.*
Experience, education and certifications: In lieu of traditional education, work experience and comparable life experience will be considered.
Required:
- Six months working or volunteering in an organization such as a school, camp, community center, zoo, aquarium, nature center or other organization engaged in education or outreach with historically marginalized communities.
- Demonstrated ability working with elementary- to middle-school-aged youth.
- Demonstrated interest in the Seattle Aquarium’s mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment and/or related fields such as marine conservation, environmental education and environmental justice.
Preferred:
- Ability to communicate in a language in addition to English.
- High school diploma or equivalent.
Working conditions:
- Occasional extended exposure to outside weather conditions.
- Occasionally required to lift and carry up to 20 pounds (e.g. totes of outreach supplies).
- Comfortable getting near the ground to be at the same level with young children, traveling at least a mile in outdoor settings such as along beaches or rivers.
- Job requires time spent in the offices, exhibits, service areas, classrooms and in outdoor settings such as along beaches or rivers.
- Driving Aquarium vehicles (car, SUV or van) to outreach and field locations within a roughly 50-mile radius of the Seattle Aquarium.
- Flexible schedule required: this position will commonly work weekends and evenings to accommodate outreach program and community needs.
Salary and benefits:
$17.50/hour plus full-time benefits. Full-time staff are eligible for the Seattle Aquarium’s comprehensive benefits package to include medical, vision, dental, employer-funded health reimbursement account, medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, access to a subsidized ORCA pass, a Seattle Aquarium Family Plus membership and generous paid time off.
How to apply:
The Seattle Aquarium is a progressive, equal opportunity employer that values a diverse workforce. All candidates are encouraged to apply, using our online application, by uploading a résumé and document answering the following four application questions:
- How do you define community?
- One of the Seattle Aquarium’s core values is to be an inclusive community. How is inclusion important to marine conservation?
- If selected for the program, describe what you would like to get out of the empathy fellowship?
- In your own words, describe what empathy means to you. How has it shown up in your life?
Please let us know if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for this job.
*Note: Must pass a background check and motor vehicle records check, upon job offer, to be eligible for this position. Regarding driving records, during the last 36 months you must not have had any of the following experiences: left the scene of an accident; been convicted of reckless, negligent or careless driving; had automobile insurance canceled, declined or not renewed; been convicted of an alcohol- or drug-related offense; had driver’s license suspended or revoked; or been convicted of three or more speeding violations.