Education and Engagement Fellow (NOAA CRF 2025-2027)
This position is part of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship Program, supporting the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (CRRC) projects. The fellow will support the project: Building a Climate Ready New Jersey.
Host Organization: Rutgers University, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Work Environment:
The office is located at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS). The location is both stunning and remote! The commute to the office can be impacted by high tides. The work will be hybrid, consisting of three days/week in person and two days/week remote.
Fellowship Position Description:
The fellow will become an integrated part of the Education, Climate Awareness, Training, and Engagement (EduCATE) team. As part of this team, the fellow will work alongside their mentor, Lisa Auermuller, to ensure that multiple education, engagement, and training activities are planned and implemented in conjunction with the other core activities of the Ready NJ project. A brief description of each EduCATE initiative task is below.
This coordinated approach will include
- working with each of the EduCATE partners to learn about their initiatives and understand progress, implementation activities, and deliverables;
- familiarity with other parts of the Ready NJ program so that EduCATE initiatives can be interwoven;
- promoting the use of consistent methodologies, language, and branding;
- identifying synergies and efficiencies among EduCATE initiatives; and
- finding opportunities for transferability of EduCATE initiatives to other geographic locations within the Ready NJ project area and in other coastal areas outside of New Jersey.
The fellow will be expected to:
- Participate in all ongoing EduCATE initiative meetings (virtually and in person)
- Become familiar with New Jersey’s climate change–related decision support tools and applications including the Coastal Ecological Restoration and Adaptation Planning tool (CERAP), NJADAPT, MyCoast: New Jersey portal, and New Jersey’s K-12 climate change curriculum standards
- Identify and utilize best practices for equitable community engagement throughout the EduCATE initiatives
Expected Deliverables:
- Using NOAA’s Community Resilience Education Theory of Change, the fellow will work with each EduCATE partner to codevelop a Theory of Change (ToC) for the EduCATE Initiatives. This theory of change will be used to evaluate project progress, draft performance metrics, and help identify synergies among initiatives.
- Timeline: Within the first six months of the fellowship
- Creation and ongoing iteration of a Ready NJ EduCATE Initiative “plan” which should be modeled after the NJ FRAMES Engagement Plan. This plan will serve as documentation of the initial engagement ideas for each project task but also as a living document over the course of project implementation.
- Timeline: Ongoing throughout the fellowship with a final plan delivered by the end of the fellowship
EduCATE Tasks:
- Expand the use of MyCoast: New Jersey for community engagement and education.
- Innovative multimedia for resilience education.
- Community support in the Delaware River/Bayshore region.
- Advancing Climate Data and Tools in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary.
- K-12 Research Practice Partnership (RPP).
Anticipated Travel:
Travel is expected to meet with and attend events of the various EduCATE partners. Travel includes various locations throughout coastal New Jersey. Opportunities for professional networking and professional development will also include travel. These opportunities could include New Jersey–based or national conferences and workshops. Relevant local conferences could include the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative conference or workshops hosted by the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center and the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Management. National conferences could include NOAA’s Social Coast Forum, The National Association for Floodplain Management conference, or NOAA’s Digital Coast conference. Additionally, the fellow is required to attend the peer- to-peer sharing event in2027.
Required Qualifications:
The fellow must have a bachelor’s degree in a natural science–related field or a policy-related program. Experience with science translation and education and outreach is required.
Desired Qualifications:
- Public speaking and clearly written communication
- Comfortable working in collaborative teams
- Graphic design and experience working with social media as a form of public outreach is a plus
- Experience or coursework related to coastal systems is a plus
Additional information, and to apply, please upload the following materials in one PDF file here:
- Resume (two-page limit)
- Statement of interest, where the candidate describes what they hope to gain from the fellowship experience and what they can contribute. Candidates should also highlight any connections to or special interests in the region, including Indigenous or local knowledge and relevant life experiences (500-word limit)
- Unofficial academic transcripts to show coursework (or joint services transcript for veterans)
- Two professional or academic references (names and contact information)
**Applications will not be accepted through Handshake