Teacher Naturalist (furlough)

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont; Townsend (TN); On-site; USD 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing provided

Meals included

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Retirement package

Paid holidays

Professional development

Job summary

The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont seeks a Teacher Naturalist to lead outdoor education programs for youth and adults. This full-time position offers on-site housing, meals, and a competitive starting weekly salary, with benefits including retirement and health coverage.

Ideal candidates are energetic educators who value equity, enjoy mentoring interns, and can adapt lessons to diverse groups in a remote mountain setting.

Qualifications

• Enthusiastic, energetic educator committed to outdoor teaching.
• Ability to collaborate, communicate, and solve problems with colleagues.
• Experience working with young people and diverse communities.
• Willing to commit to Tremont’s mission for 1–2 years.
• Capable of managing groups in varying weather and terrain.

Responsibilities

• Guide experiential education programs for youth and adults.
• Deliver lessons that deepen relationships and rekindle love of learning.
• Adapt Tremont lesson plans to participant needs and seasons.
• Prioritize safety and apply first-aid training when needed.
• Supervise program participants on-site and support staff.

Skills

Enthusiastic and energetic

Collaborative

Strong communication

Problem solving

Experience with youth

Equity, inclusion, diversity

Critical thinking in education/science

Outdoor teaching passion

Ability to work in varied weather

Job description

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS INSTITUTE AT TREMONT

POSITION DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE: Teacher Naturalist

Reports to: Youth Program Director

Job Status: Salary

Compensation and Benefits: Starting salary $425.00 per week + meals and lodging. On-site

housing provided with monthly utilities paid by Institute. Local estimates place a $9,600 per

year value for housing.

Benefits include retirement package and access to health and dental insurance. 14 paid holidays

per year. Overtime compensated with additional paid leave. Paid professional development

including Wilderness First Responder, Red Cross Lifeguarding, and Southern Appalachian

Naturalist certifications. This is a yearlong position with up to 3-6 weeks unpaid furlough.

Category: Exempt

Classification: full time (subject to furlough)

Our Values and Culture

We creat e experiential education programs focused on the natural world, knowing such learning and research opportunities are uniquely suited to bring about life changing outcomes in individual passion for learning, sense of worth, and behavior.

We believe a lost connection with the natural world can be repaired beginning with experiences that take place in the original classroom—the outdoors. We believe such experiences produce cascading results that enrich individual lives, strengthen communities, and empower citizens.

We celebrate the distinctive setting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) provides as a living laboratory to explore the biodiversity that forms the building blocks of healthy ecosystems, examine past and present human impacts on the land, and navigate questions about how to best support the land that supports us.

We carry out our mission with both urgency and joy, recognizing that the work of connecting people and nature could not be timelier.

Our Ideal Applicant

We are seeking passionate educators. People who have experienced awe and wonder outdoors, and who now want that for other people too. Tremont Teacher Naturalists believe that education is a vehicle for change and want to assist Tremont’s programs in making positive impacts on the health and well-being of our participants and the ecosystems they live within. Above all, Tremont Teacher Naturalists want to take care of children, and know that the dynamic, rich experiences of exploring the outdoors with wonder and curiosity fundamentally take care of children.

Our ideal applicants have experience working with children, either in classrooms, after school programs, nature centers, outdoor schools, or camp settings . They know they like to be around children, and have an empathy and respect for their social and emotional lives.

Finally, our ideal applicant brings warmth and hospitality to our programs . They understand that one’s connection to the natural world is dependent on aspects of identity and demographics; some communities and backgrounds have historically been excluded or disenfranchised from connections with nature. Thus, they modify their work in a way that invites people of all backgrounds into realizing our collective heritage in the natural world.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Program

• Guide experiential education programs for youth and adults.
• Deliver innovative lessons that help students and teachers deepen relationships and (re)discover a love of learning.
• Adapt Tremont lesson plans to accommodate personal teaching style, goals of participants, and seasonality.
• Make good decisions regarding personal and participant safety, anticipate problems and act within scope of first aid training.
• Work effectively with a range of participants, elementary aged through college, adults, and teachers.
• Provide on-site supervision and support for program participants.

Tremont Community

• Provide warmth and hospitality to all program participants; invites participants into spaces and activities with kindness and compassion.
• Contribute to our caring community by taking care to set-up, clean, and maintain program spaces as needed for programs.
• Communicate needs and concerns openly and clearly.
• Actively participate in our Tremont team to create impactful experiences.
• Maintain helpful attitude and energy to accomplish individual and collaborative projects.

Leadership and Growth

• Demonstrate curiosity by continually exploring areas of interest (such as branches of natural history, human cultures and history, the humanities, etc.).
• Serve in leadership capacity for summer interns and new staff.
• Seek opportunities for growth and continual improvement as an educator for both youth and adults.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Operates a motor vehicle to transport program participants or to conduct other work activities.
• Provides assistance to other employees or departments as needed .
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

REQUIREMENTS

• Experience and Education:
• Applicants must be enthusiastic, energetic, and committed to teaching in the outdoors.
• Must have the ability to collaborate, communicate, and problem solve with colleagues in a dynamic workplace.
• Experience working with young people.
• Demonstrated commitment to issues regarding equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice.
• Must have an ability to think critically about the fields of education and science and can demonstrate knowledge in those or other related fields.
• Willing to commit at least 1-2 years to Tremont’s mission of ‘connecting people and nature.’
• Ability to manage the physical and emotional needs of a group of participants in a variety of weather conditions and trail types.
• Physical Ability : Performs physical activity relating to programs/activities, which may include hiking in mountainous terrain, climbing steep trails, climbing rocks/boulders, participating in games/recreational activities, carrying backpacks, moving dining tables, and lifting/moving heavy materials. Must be able to hike while carrying a pack 4 miles in a day while managing a group of participants.
• Housing Requirements:
• Position may require employee to reside on premises of Institute, with residence and utilities provided by Institute.

The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, GSMIT will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.