Environmental Education Member - Mammoth Cave National Park

Location: Mammoth Cave

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the National Park Service is seeking ONE Environmental Education Member to contribute to the Mammoth Cave National Park Environmental Education summer camp and teacher workshop project alongside NPS Staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Start Date:

May 11 or May 18, 2026

Estimated End Date: 13 weeks after start date

* a 13-week minimum commitment is required
* Location Details/

Description:

Mammoth Cave National Park - Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Mammoth Cave was established as a national park in 1941. It was later designated a World Heritage Site in 1981 and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1990. In 2021 the park was certified as a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association.

Mammoth Cave National Park is a park on two levels - 52,830 acres of reclaimed hardwood forest and winding riverways, and below it, the longest known cave system in the world, surveyed at 412 miles to date. Located within a day's drive of major population centers, it offers camping, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, canoeing, picnicking, and cave tours.

The Mammoth Cave area offers dozens of attractions, plentiful accommodations, and ample dining opportunities. There is a wide variety of recreational and cultural activities in the local communities and a major tourist attraction located just 23 miles away at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY.

For more information about Mammoth Cave National Park, please visit the park's website at the parks website

Position Overview:

The primary purpose of the environmental education office is to provide students with an understanding of the park and its resources and help to foster a stewardship for the NPS and Mammoth Cave National Park. The service member will work with students from across the local area and assist park rangers with week long summer day camps. Most of the work will be outside in the park or inside the cave as the students and teachers are fully immersed in the resource.

Additional duties could include:

* Two weeks of training for cave tours and trails as well as on the job training for educational activities

* Lead and or trail cave tours for students and teachers

* Lead and or trail hikes for students and teachers

* Assist with educational activities during summer camps and teacher workshops

* Attend off site programs and assist in providing educational activities to students in the local area at schools and library events

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Schedule:

The anticipated schedule for this position after the initial two week training period (Tuesday-Saturday, varied hours) will be Monday-Friday from 7:30am-4:00pm central.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance:
The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $600/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

This position is part of the Public Land Corps Hiring Authority:
Members serving under this agreement must meet the PLC Eligibility Requirements to be considered for this position. Members may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service and 640 hours of service. If the duration of a PLC-eligible term is not long enough for Members to accrue 640 hours of service (~16 weeks), the total hours served at the completion of the term may be eligible to be combined with hours accrued from another PLC-eligible term to meet the 640 hours requirement.

PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age (You must be between the ages of 16 and 30. Some agencies also interpret these guidelines to include veterans up to age 35) and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general eligibility information on our website.

Housing: ACE members will be accommodated in provided housing at no cost…