Biological Support Member Shorebirds - Monomoy NWR

Summary

American Conservation Experience (ACE), a non-profit conservation corps, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), is seeking TWO Biological Support Members to contribute to the biology program under the mentorship of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge Staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website..

Start Date: April 2026

Estimated End Date: Sept 2026 22 week commitment is required

Location Details/

Description:

Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge;
Chatham, MA

The refuge provides important resting, nesting and feeding habitat for migratory birds, including the federally protected piping plover, roseate tern, and red knot. At least 25 species of seabird, shorebird, waterfowl, and colonial waterbird nest on three offshore islands. The refuge also supports the largest nesting colony of common terns on the Atlantic seaboard, exceeding 19,000 pairs.

Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge's mission is to protect the habitats critical to migratory birds, spawning horseshoe crabs, and other wildlife while affording the public an opportunity to experience this unique wilderness refuge.

For more information about Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, please visit the FWS website.

During this term, the ACE member will contribute to management of nesting piping plovers. The member will provide support and assistance under the guidance and direction of FWS staff to:

• spend 85% of the time focused on inventory, monitoring, and management of nesting piping plovers, common terns, roseate terns, least terns, and American oyster catchers (with an emphasis on plovers ) including:
  • Conducting annual censuses of all species with established protocols
  • Monitoring productivity through repeated nest visits, chick banding, and visual observations
  • Lethal predator management including gull nest destruction
  • Posting areas closed to public use
• spend the other 15% on helping with all other biological work possibly including horseshoe crab surveys, wading bird surveys, seal surveys, invasive species mapping and control, interacting with the public, entering data, maintaining facilities, and conducting routine office work. These positions require living on a remote island, in either a lighthouse keepers house (no running water but solar run electricity) or a field camp (no electricity or running water).

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.

Duties will primarily be carried out between the hours of 6:00am and 6:00pm, typically 5 days/week (5-8s). Bi-weekly totals typically will not exceed 80 hours. A flexible work schedule is required, which will involve work performed outside of normal work hours including early mornings, late evenings, weekends and/or holidays. Time off may be granted and requests should be directed to ACE and the FWS for approval.

The ACE Member is expected to contribute approximately 40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $700/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Members serving under this agreement 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 and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general eligibility information on our website.

ACE members will be accommodated in provided housing at no cost for the duration of the term. ACE members will spend the majority of their time living and working on a remote wilderness island. Housing on the island will be split…