Seattle Tilth Position Description

On-Call Environmental Educator, The Garden Hotline

Founded in 1978, Seattle Tilth is a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating a sustainable community, one garden at a time. We do this by providing more than 300 unique educational programs each year that teach urban and suburban dwellers to improve water and soil quality, reduce pesticide usage, and limit their contribution to the waste stream by growing organic food, composting, building their soil and supporting local food systems.

The Garden Hotline is an important part of the City of Seattle's Natural Soil Building Program. The Hotline offers free information to Seattle and King County residents on backyard composting and natural soil building techniques, resource conservation, pesticide reduction and natural gardening practices. The City of Seattle and King County promote the Hotline extensively to raise awareness about the educational and problem solving service.

Some of the tasks include:

·        Provide requested information to residents by phone, mail, email, or in person during designated business hours.

·        Provide information on NSB programs and resources to program managers and staff of suburban cities and the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program (LHWMP) in King County by phone, mail or email.

·        Keep up to date on current activities of: Green Gardening Program; Pacific Northwest pest management resources; Seattle Public Utilities; LHWMP; and innovative information on appropriate gardening strategies.

·        Help create various support materials for the program as needed including flyers, articles, resource guides and training materials.

·        Help create and present educational classes/workshops to support Natural Soil Building Programs.

·        Help maintain and update an inventory of guides, factsheets, and frequently asked questions.

·        Attend Tilth Staff meetings and Natural Soil Building team meetings as requested.

·        Other duties as assigned

Desired Qualifications for the Environmental Educator

·        Extensive knowledge of Pacific Northwest gardening techniques, plants, pests and their management using sustainable practices.

·        Degree in Horticulture, Plant Pathology, Entomology, or related fields.

·        Experience in garden design, landscape maintenance, and/or nursery work.

·        Familiarity with local and national gardening resources and how to access them.

·        Knowledge of backyard composting and soil building techniques.

·        Program management skills and experience desired.

·        Spanish language skills a plus.

·        Ability to create curriculum and training materials to support program.

·        Experience teaching formally or informally in the classroom, in the workplace or at workshops.

·        Excellent research skills.

·        Strong writing and editing skills. (Short writing sample will be requested from finalists.)

·        Experience using Microsoft Office, FileMaker Pro, and Adobe computer programs. Experience with graphics programs a plus.

·        Ability to work in a small indoor office, with lots of activity.

·        Friendly, polite, and patient phone manner.

To Apply:

Submit a cover letter, resume and three professional references immediately. Only completed applications will be considered.

Attn: Laura Matter, Program Lead

Seattle Tilth/ NSB

4649 Sunnyside Ave N.  Room 120

Seattle WA 98103

Questions may be directed to Laura Matter at lauramatter@seattletilth.org

For more information about Seattle Tilth, see www.seattletilth.org.

Seattle Tilth is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.