Cultural Resource Program Assistant at Gulf Islands National Seashore

Job Overview

Title: SECC Interns – Cultural Resource Program Assistant (10 weeks)

Reports to: Michael Lockman, Cultural Resource Program Manager & Archeologist

Location: Based in Gulf Breeze, FL

Status: Seasonal, Full-time, Exempt – 300-hour AmeriCorps Service Term

Stipend: $690/week – paid bi-weekly

Other Benefits: Housing is not provided. Uniform shirts, protective equipment, trainings. Other development opportunities as needed and available. $1,459.26 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award upon successful completion of service term.

Start/end date:  02/12/2024 – 04/26/2024

Positions available: 3

Positions open until filled.

Southeast Conservation Corps: 
SECC empowering young adults to cultivate compassion, responsibility, and grit through community service, hard work, and environmental stewardship.

Southeast Conservation Corps (SECC) empowers young people to attain compassion, responsibility and grit through community service, hard work and environmental stewardship. SECC is a local, non-profit, AmeriCorps affiliated organization based out of Chattanooga, TN. SECC selects young adults to complete conservation work projects on public, private and municipal lands throughout the Southeast. SECC fosters the personal development of corps members through environmental stewardship projects and experiential learning. Through community partnerships, SECC provides hands-on job training opportunities to young adults while simultaneously meeting natural resource needs throughout the Southeast.

Position Description:
Gulf Islands National Seashore Science and Resource Stewardship division works to protect, preserve, and foster appreciation of the cultural resources in its custody and demonstrate its respect for the peoples traditionally associated with those resources through appropriate programs of research, planning, and stewardship.

Gulf Islands National Seashore is the largest National Seashore in the United States and the eighth most-visited unit of the National Park Service. Since 1992, with inception of the NPS Systemwide Archeological Inventory Program, condition assessments and other activities addressing data gaps have occurred sporadically. As visitation and park management activities have increased, the need for interpretive materials and park planning information about resources has increased. The likelihood of anthropogenic and environmental impacts to resources also has increased. These internships will enable the park to conduct condition assessments at known and documented archeological sites. Assessments will include identification and quantification of primary threats, disturbances, and deferred maintenance needs; provide recommendations for periodic monitoring, preservation, and protection treatments; and provide planning tools and information for archeological interpretation, visitor use, and visitor safety. Interns will fill critical gaps in our current operational capacity by completing tasks that are necessary to inform immediate decision-making processes and cultural resource management strategies in the longue durée.

Position Responsibilities:

1. Conduct cultural resource monitoring activities to determine the status and trends of selected park resources, and to evaluate the efficacy of current management practices.

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Assist Park staff with monitoring and management activities related to site condition assessments, including pedestrian survey and reporting.
• Adapt existing protocols and data collection methods if deemed necessary while adhering to established protocols.
• Record geospatial data and document current site conditions using park equipment.
• Training will be provided for how to assess site condition while identifying threats and disturbances (i.e., erosion, bioturbation human interference, etc.) following established protocols. Interns will receive training on hour to enter acquired data into the Cultural Resources Inventory System (CRIS).

2. Fieldwork pursuant to compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act including pedestrian and shovel testing survey as deemed appropriate by the park cultural resource program manager.

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Evaluate areas of potential threat from impacts associated with park projects and other management activities.
• Draft documents associated with findings of effects/threats.
• Training in the proper survey methods in accordance with the 2020 Standard Field Procedures Manual for the Southeast Archeological Center will be provided.

3. Analyze materials not yet accessioned into Gulf Islands’ Museum collections.

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Inventory these materials as directed and assist with drafting memoranda for review by the park’s Collections Advisory Committee.
• Assist with the return of materials not retained for accessioning, learning about the park’s scope of collections and appropriate methods of retention and/or disposal.
• Database creation and management to help develop knowledge, skills and abilities associated with proper long term custodial care of cultural resources.

4. Assistance with keeping daily operations running, which includes routine upkeep of supplies and equipment, purchasing gas, and ensuring the right supplies are in the right locations

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Involvement with community outreach events promoting the conservation and management of cultural resources.
• Assist the park in achieving its mission in protecting and preserving imperiled coastal resources.

Minimum Qualifications:

Successful applicants must demonstrate an understanding of basic scientific principles, data collection and analysis. Applicants should be able to follow precise procedures and established protocols with close attention to detail. Strong oral and written communication skills are desired. Experience working in the coastal system is preferred but not required. Must be comfortable with ArcGIS online and other platforms such as Field Maps and Survey 123 and be able to operate a tablet for data collection while in the field. Applicants must either be currently enrolled in a degree in anthropology or a closely related field of study OR be a recent graduate of one of the before mentioned programs. Applicant must have a valid driver’s license to drive a government vehicle.

Preferred Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in anthropology or closely related field of study from an accredited university (including completion of an archeological field school through an accredited university). Previous experience with driving a UTV/ATV is preferred. Training will be provided to operate park UTVs and trailers.

AmeriCorps Qualifications: 
To qualify, you must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and a US citizen that has received a high school diploma or GED. All offers of employment are conditional upon completion of an acceptable check of the National Sex Offender Public Registry and federal criminal background check. Must be eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award.

Compensation:
Interns earn a living stipend of $690 per week (paid bi-weekly) before taxes via direct deposit. Housing will not be provided so the ideal candidate should reside in the Florida area. Upon successful completion of their term, interns will receive a Segal AmeriCorps education award in the amount of $1,459.26 for tuition at Title IV accredited learning institutions, AmeriCorps approved non-traditional continued education or paying off student loans.

Participation and Expedition Behavior:

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem-solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept differences.
• Contribute to a safe learning environment, no harassment of others for any reason.
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and national service. Members must commit to participating in all crew/team activities, including service days in local communities where applicable.
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues, and organization staff.
• Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills and apply them to effectively carry out the service work requirements.
• Appropriately always represent the Program and AmeriCorps to the public and project partners.

Safety and Judgment:

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. You must be able to do so at a distance of up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds.
• Effectively perceive, understand, and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute appropriate and perhaps unfamiliar techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during exposure to the hazard.
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.
• Perceive and comprehend significant and apparent hazards, including those hazards previously identified by others.
• Respond appropriately to stress or crises.
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from others.

Environmental Ethics:

Learn and practice ‘Leave no Trace’ techniques.

Outdoor Skills and Fitness (where appropriate):

• Learn and safely perform fundamental outdoor living/travel and work skills as appropriate to the project. Additionally, remain adequately hydrated, fed, and properly dressed to remain generally healthy and safe, avoiding environmental injuries.
• Live in a physically demanding, possibly remote environment for an uninterrupted period of up to several weeks. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly and may include severe and/or trying weather. The remoteness is such that it may require at a minimum one hour, but perhaps up to 12 hours, to reach the nearest advanced medical care.

Substance Free:
In accordance with a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and program activities and while on organization property.

Additional Notes:

All applicants must pass a criminal background and motor vehicle background check prior to hiring.

This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.

To Apply:

Follow the SECC link and complete the application. Please include 3 references, resume, and copy of your transcripts (unofficial okay). You can put the references in a word doc and upload it alongside your resume. A cover letter is encouraged but not required.

If you have questions about the position, please contact:

Michael Lockman

Gulf Islands National Seashore

Cultural Resource Program Manager & Archeologist

(850) 934 -2623

[email protected]

If you have questions about the application process, please contact:

Kahla Stewart

Intern Program Coordinator

Southeast Conservation Corps

(423) 402-6004

[email protected]