The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Office Groundskeeper: Clinch Valley Program
Abingdon, VA
Our Clinch Valley Program is looking for a volunteer or two to maintain flower beds and walkways at the Abingdon Office. This includes maintaining healthy plant life (grass, shrubbery, flowers, etc.) by weeding, watering and replacing plants as necessary, keeping walks and parking areas clear of debris and weeds, and seeking creative ways to improve design, maintenance and ecological sensibility of the office grounds. We are looking for a long-term volunteer who can commit to 2 hours/week or every other week for a year, weekdays preferred, weekends occasionally. If interested contact Jen Dalke, volunteer coordinator, at jdalke@tnc.org or 434-951-0572 (w), 540-335-1302 (c)

Office Handy-Person: Clinch Valley Program
Abingdon, VA
Our Clinch Valley Program is looking for a volunteer to serve as a muli-faceted “fix-it assistant” to the Abingdon office manager who can help with projects like replacing fluorescent light bulbs, minor chair repairs, minor plumbing, painting, etc. How much the handy-person can accomplish will depend on his/her skills, interests and time availability. Bi-weekly duties may include:
· Review list of outstanding projects and decide on priority projects for completion
· Provide list of needed items for purchase based on maintenance items on the repair list
· Complete projects and report problems/observations

We are looking for a long-term volunteer who can commit to a couple hours a week/every other week (or as needed) for 1 year, weekdays preferred. If you are interested and have experience in general repair, contract carpentry, tool use, etc. please contact Jen Dalke at jdalke@tnc.org or 434-951-0572 (w), 540-335-1302 (c).

Adopt a Garden – all levels of experience welcome
Charlottesville Office
We are seeking people to adopt different sections of our gardens. You’ll be able to volunteer for a leading conservation organization and use your green skills on your own schedule. We’ll provide the necessary tools and supplies for you at any time of the week.
 
Volunteering will entail one (or more) people assigned to a section of our building’s gardens. A group from your office, store, organization or a group of friends can adopt one space (or more) and together keep the area in good condition throughout the year. This will entail cutting back shrubs, deadheading perennials and shrubs, weeding, mulching, and raking. No more than a few hours of volunteering per month for each area will be required.
 
Contact: Theresa King, operations assistant, at 434-951-0586 or theresa_king@tnc.org.

Interested in an unpaid internship opportunity?
Various locations based on need and qualifications
The Nature Conservancy in Virginia occasionally has need for regular, longer-term volunteers or unpaid interns. Internships may be available in a variety of locations in various departments (i.e., stewardship, marketing, conservation science, GIS, etc.). A typical stewardship volunteer during field season would travel with Conservancy staff (based out of the Charlottesville Office) to various preserves around the state doing projects like, trail maintenance, vegetation monitoring, tree thinning, invasive control, fire line creation, and other related projects as needed. Other internships may involve researching particular topics, creating databases or doing literature reviews. Please send your resume and cover letter explaining your interest to Jen Dalke, volunteer coordinator, at jdalke@tnc.org or 434-951-0572. Internships generally last between 8-10 weeks at 10-20 hours/week, but is flexible based on need and qualifications. If you have a specific project in mind, please note it.
 

Volunteer Artist Needed
Design and Create a Virginia Chapter Volunteer T-Shirt
We are looking for an artist to help design and create a t-shirt for Virginia Chapter Nature Conservancy volunteers as a recognition gift for volunteer service. The general idea is to draw the Virginia state border and create a mosaic of rare Virginia species that the Conservancy is working to protect inside of that border. The species would be in color (medium of your choice) and we will provide a list of 15-20 rare species to choose from (use all or as many as can fit in the design). A rough example will be provided to those interested. Photos of each species may not be available and the artist may need to do internet research in order to depict the species as accurately as possible. Completion date of the project is flexible, but ideally it should be completed by the end of November. You must provide example artworks and/or an example sketch of this project before we choose the best option. If you are interested please contact Jen Dalke, volunteer coordinator, at 434-951-0572 or jdalke@tnc.org.

On-Call Receptionists
The Nature Conservancy's Charlottesville office keeps a list of "On-Call" receptionist volunteers, those who are interested in being contacted occasionally whenever paid staff cannot work the front desk (i.e. when staff are sick, on vacation, attending staff meetings, etc).  We are looking for two more phone-savvy and frequently available people who would enjoy answering phones during normal business hours as well as helping with other miscellaneous front-desk tasks as needed.  Prior experience using a multi-line phone system is preferred, but not required.  You will be thoroughly trained.  The Charlottesville office contains 40 staff and is a casual professional environment. All staff members have their own direct phone numbers, but because the automated phone answering service offers callers the option to speak with an operator, a live receptionist must be present. Commitment: One year of friendly and informative phone answering and miscellaneous front desk task help.  For more information about this key volunteer task, please contact jdalke@tnc.org.
 

Photography Buffs
We are looking for great photos (from all seasons) of Virginia Conservancy preserves to use in various documents, such as brochures, flyers, invitations, presentations and holiday cards. If you or someone you know has taken any photos of a Virginia preserve, volunteer effort, conservation in motion, etc, that you would like to share, please forward them via CD or DVD to Pam Crosby, executive assistant to the state director and trustee liaison, at:
  530 East Main Street 
  Suite 800
  Richmond, VA 23219
 
We need the following information:
- location
- photographer
- who may be in the photo/or what preserve is in the photo, etc.
 
Also, please fill out the attached Photo Rights form (pdf) and forward to Pam Crosby at pcrosby@tnc.org (only one form is needed per person), OR send it in with your CD of photos.
 

Volunteer Preserve Visitation Committee Members
Locations: Berger Preserve, Fortune’s Cove Preserve, Bottom Creek, Gorge Preserve, Falls Ridge Preserve, Voorhees Preserve, Wildcat Mountain Preserve, Fraser Preserve, Cumberland Marsh Preserve, Warm Springs Mountain Preserve

We need your eyes, ears and muscles!  With many preserves to manage around the Commonwealth, it’s not always possible to monitor them as often as we’d like. Our goal is to form volunteer visitation committees at our public access preserves to conduct routine surveys of the preserve and note visitor activities. Committee members will also help to remove debris, fallen branches or overgrown vegetation from trails as needed with hand tools. We are looking for long-term committed people to monitor between 4 and 6 times a year.

Please visit our new Preserve Monitoring Program web page for more information »
 

Nationwide

Nationwide Long-Term Volunteer Opportunity List