Based in New Quay (West Wales), our Education and Outreach Assistant is the often the first face for visitors to our Visitor and Education Centre. This position suits a volunteer with a strong interest in marine conservation that recognises the importance of educating and raising awareness by involving all ages. Our Communication and Outreach Officer will provide support and supervision for this position.
For the past 24 years, Sea Watch Foundation has been monitoring the dolphins, porpoises and whales that inhabit Cardigan Bay in West Wales, documenting abundance trends, identifying conservation threats, and advising on the best ways to protect the populations both within and outside the Special Areas of Conservation. Alongside its own scientific surveys and research, Sea Watch has, for more than 25 years, pioneered citizen science as well as a range of education and outreach programmes.
The Education and Outreach Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:
- Running the Visitor and Education Centre in New Quay: coming up with activities and and events to draw visitors as well as day to day maintenance.
- Raising Sea Watch Foundation’s profile locally. This will involve liaising with local boat operators and businesses, organising events and producing educational materials to raise awareness.You will work closely with our boat operator in New Quay to ensure promotion of Sea Watch Foundation on their trips by providing educational materials and training interns to speak about Sea Watch during trips.
- Organising, promoting, and delivering National Whale and Dolphin Watch education and outreach activities
- Contacting schools and organising trips. Working alongside our Communication & Outreach Officer you will participate in presentations and create activities to take/deliver to local schools and groups
- Creating educational/promotional materials such as online learning resources, flyers and updating our Daily Sightings board
- Managing social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) and blog posts in association with the Communications & Outreach officer
- Representing Sea Watch Foundation at local public events
- Supervising our Public Awareness intern. Each week you will be joined by an intern to help with your duties and deliver activities/events
- Assisting the Communications & Outreach Officer with grant applications
The field will run from 1st April to 27th October. Our Education and Outreach Assistant is required to stay for at least half of the season (choosing Period 1-2 or 3-4) but can also choose to stay for the whole season. The assistant will be based in New Quay, West Wales. Accommodation will be provided in a house shared with the Research Interns at a significantly subsidised rate. The EA is responsible for their own travel and other living expenses.
Period 1: April 1 – May 26 (8 weeks)
Period 2: May 27- July 14 (7 weeks)
Period 3: July 15 – September 1 (7 weeks)
Period 4: September 2 – October 27 (8 weeks)
Important skills/qualifications
Essential:
- A strong interest in marine conservation and education
- Outgoing and confident with experience in public awareness
- Some experience of working with children/young people
- Excellent verbal and writing skills
- Public speaking
- Social media
- Ability to work to their own initiative and independently in a organised and reliable manner
- Ability to work in busy periods and multitask
- Ability to delegate within a small team
Desirable
- Background in marine biology/environmental science or similar
- Strong interest and some knowledge of British marine mammals
- Good IT skills (Office package and WordPress)
- Willingness to work long hours, sometimes outdoors in very changeable Welsh weather
If you are interested in this position, please contact Claudia Afeltra on claudia.afeltra@seawatchfoundation.org.uk with a cover letter, CV and details of two references by 28th January 2024. Decisions will be made by 25th February 2024.
The Sea Watch Foundation
The Sea Watch Foundation is a national marine environmental research charity that aims to achieve better conservation of whales and dolphins in the seas around Britain and Ireland, by involving the public in scientific monitoring of populations and the threats they face. It is the longest-running research charity in the UK focusing upon cetaceans around the British Isles, and maintains a national sightings database, the largest in Europe. It works closely with all the UK statutory conservation agencies, and has provided advice to the UK government, the UNEP Regional inter-governmental Conservation Agreement – ASCOBANS, and the European Commission, as well as the major conservation charities and marine industries operating in the UK.
Public Awareness
We aim to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of the marine wildlife and the habitats supporting them, to encourage respect and conservation of the marine environment for future generations. We also run training courses for the public in cetacean identification and survey methods.
A list of some science, awareness and education achievements is given below:
- Sea Watch Director, Dr Peter Evans, received the European Cetacean Society Conservation Award, 2012
- Sea Watch Foundation was recipient of the UNEP/ASCOBANS Outreach and Education Award, 2009
- Sea Watch Foundation was voted best UK animal adoption scheme by BBC Wildlife, December 2008
- Publication of European Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. Marine Mammal Conservation in Practice, in 2020 by Academic Press, London & San Diego. 306pp.
