Natural Resource Monitoring and Stewardship Volunteer

Volunteer Goals:

• conduct and maintain park-based natural resource monitoring 
• build scientific, natural history and natural resource management capacity and understanding  
• support conservation of lands, water, species & heritage by practicing stewardship 
• extend monitoring understanding by visualizing and interpreting observed patterns 

Description of Duties:

• Assist Ecologist with monthly water quality monitoring, making measurements near trails using a hand-held instrument and observing specific invasive species. 
• Assist Ecologist with collecting data from, maintaining and troubleshooting hydrology monitoring dataloggers, mainly in off-trail locations. 
• With Resource Management staff and using specialized tools, make annual (April & May) observations of ground surface subsidence and accretion, and/or take canopy and site photos, at “facility” and off-trail locations. 
• With Resource Management staff and/or partners, help establish and maintain long-term ecological (vegetation plots, phenology monitoring locations) and environmental (hydrology wells, surface elevation observation sites) monitoring infrastructure. 
• With Resource Management staff and/or partners, participate in occasional to regular monitoring campaigns, surveying elevation, documenting plant communities (off-trail), and observing phenology (from trails), or other aspects of the park’s environment and ecology. 
• In collaboration with Ecologist, develop and/or sustain monitoring data stewardship, data processing, exploratory data analysis and visualization and interpretation of observed patterns.  

Qualifications:

• Minimum age 13 (parental consent required under 18).
• Ability to walk on (or off, depending on the activity) trails in wetland ecosystems while carrying a backpack.
• Interest in natural resource management, ecology, science, conservation, or stewardship.
• Prospective volunteers must meet with the Park Ecologist for an introductory orientation before participating in field work.

Working Environment and Safety Considerations:

Monitoring work will be performed outdoors in a subtropical climate that can be extremely hot and humid. Biological hazards include the presence of biting and stinging insects (including ants, wasps, bees, deer flies, mosquitoes and others), spiders (including brown recluse and black widows), alligators and other reptiles (including venomous and non-venomous species), and of irritating vegetation (including poison ivy and plants with thorns). 

Work may involve walking on slippery, uneven and unsteady terrain and/or through dense vegetation, as well as traveling by foot and motorized vehicles (including watercraft) over roadways, trails, wetlands and water.  

Most of this work requires physical activity that may include standing, bending, carrying tools and equipment in a backpack, and/or (occasionally) lifting heavy objects. 

Natural Resource Management staff will provide task- and situation-specific safety orientation and training, and volunteers must wear safety equipment and clothing as appropriate, such as personal flotation devices in and around boats, work gloves, earplugs, safety glasses, plus other safety items required by the project work supervisor. 

Schedule and Locations:

Service primarily occurs at Barataria Preserve, with occasional work at Chalmette Battlefield. Resource Management staff will communicate the time, location, and task details prior to each volunteer work session.