Year-long Education Internship at Teton Raptor Center

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
Teton Raptor Center is a nonprofit organization working to advance raptor
conservation through education, research, and rehabilitation. We are located at the
historic Hardeman Ranch, a Jackson Hole Land Trust protected property in Wilson,
Wyoming.
 

POSITION DESCRIPTION
The primary role of the year-long, education intern is to support the care and training
of our Avian Ambassadors and the education programs. The education intern will help
tailor our interpretive programs based on the age and learning needs of participants.
This experience will also include delivering programs both formal and informal on-
and off-site and support of communications and campus stewardship.
Under the supervision of the Senior Trainer and Education Coordinator, the
Education Intern will:
● Identify activities appropriate to our mission for different age levels and
learning styles (PreK-12 as well as adult learners) using in-house activity
guides, previous experiences, and online searches.
● Design basic lesson plans and correlate these plans to Idaho, Wyoming and
National Standards for Science, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Art, and
other academic areas as appropriate.
● Assemble activity guides/kits to leave with teachers after their program is
complete.
● Collect feedback from teachers, when possible, after program delivery and
work with the Education Coordinator to adjust activities accordingly.
● Compile these activities into progressive, portable modules that can be readily
accessed and taught through both on-site and outreach programming.
● Modify and adjust some activities, where appropriate, for translation into
other languages (with the help of others in the community if needed).
● Develop durable and professional visual aids and props for use in programs of
all types.
● Present programs on-site and off-site with live raptors on the glove under the
supervision of staff.
● Work on training projects under the supervision of the training team.
● Learn how to work with the Avian Ambassadors on the glove and support their
daily care, cleaning, and training.
● Develop a foundation in operant conditioning.
● Assist with maintenance of the enclosures and preparation of daily
enrichment.
● Work alongside and collaborate with volunteers.
● Support communications - social media, videos, e-news, and Talon Tuesdays.
● Support facility maintenance including composting, recycling, and snow
removal.
 

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS
● Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
● Strong communication skills, including the ability to compose lesson plans in a
clear and consistent format.
● An excitement and willingness to engage the public about our work through
both formal and informal platforms.
● Familiarity with how to correlate lessons to the needs of teachers using state
and national standards.
● Able to stay on task and complete assignments in a timely manner with
minimal supervision.
● Creative and artistic (if not by hand, comfort with graphic design of visuals on
a computer is a must).
● Punctual, reliable, and willing to put in a full day of work, every day.
● A love of nature, especially birds, and a desire to share that love with
audiences of all ages (note – while academic background knowledge of
education and/or ecosystems and conservation is helpful, it is not required to
be successful in this position).
● Fluency in Spanish is desired but not required.
● Ability to perform physically demanding tasks such as cleaning and lifting (up
to 40 lbs.) and to work in unheated buildings during cold weather. Our
supportive team can assist with these tasks if needed, so this is desired but not
required.
● In college or recently graduated and at least 21 years of age with valid driver’s
license.
● Commitment to the entire internship timeframe and ability/flexibility to work
holidays and/or weekends
● Current CPR & AED for Adult and Child and First Aid Certification (we
strongly encourage this, but it is not a requirement).
● Must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
 

TASK & EXPERIENCE ALLOCATION
Note all numbers are estimates and will vary from season to season:
● Animal Husbandry: 40%
● Programs and Outreach: 30%
● Curriculum/Activity Development: 10%
● Communications: 10%
● Site stewardship and other duties as assigned: 10 %
 

BENEFITS
● Internships may be used for academic or vocational purposes. Interns are
responsible for making the arrangements necessary to receive relevant credit
as a result of completing the internship.
● Monthly stipend: $1,400
● On-site housing- As a condition of this opportunity, the individual must reside
in TRC’s workforce housing units.
● Use of TRC vehicles for Teton Raptor Center operations and programs.
● PTO
● Training and professional development in educational philosophy, and
pedagogy.
● Training and professional development in raptor training and care.
 

ABOUT TETON RAPTOR CENTER
Teton Raptor Center (TRC) is a nonprofit organization advancing raptor conservation
through education, research, and rehabilitation. TRC’s educational programs reach
tens of thousands of visitors annually. Our team of Avian Ambassadors includes 12
non-releasable raptors that are cared for and provided training and enrichment on a
daily basis. Our research team works on dozens of research projects annually, both
locally and in other parts of Wyoming and Montana. Our research projects include
the largest and longest on-going study of Great Gray Owls anywhere in the world, as
well as projects monitoring species like Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks,
Goshawks, and more. TRC rescues and rehabilitates over 150 raptors annually and
recently received permits to rehabilitate corvids as well. These injured, ill and
orphaned birds come from all over the state of Wyoming and Idaho. Finally, TRC
works on several conservation projects aimed at keeping wild raptors safer in the
wild. These include the Poo-Poo Project (Port-o-Potty Owl Project), an initiative to
keep cavity-nesting owls and other raptors from becoming trapped in the ventilation
pipes on vault toilets, and Sporting Lead-Free, an education-based initiative aimed at
reducing the use of lead ammunition and tackle in the environment because of its
effects on raptors.