Title: Environmental Field Instructor 

Employment Status: Non-exempt employee, .75 FTE 

Wage: $41,340 + benefits ($26.50/hr + benefits) 

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. / Environmental Field Instructor

The Internships are offered in a 12-week segment 2 times a year for a total of 24 weeks commencing in graduation from the ITEK Program. Graduates may be hired onto our WWD, LLC Crew or with one of our partners while some continue in their chosen fields, secondary educational pursuits or start their own businesses. 

Required Skills/Experience/Qualifications: 

  • Possess a dynamic personality and the energy and enthusiasm for the position 
  • Possess the knowledge, understanding, and ability to lead interns and other community members in proposed on-the-ground activities involving the ITEK curriculum
  • Participate in initial and ongoing training for environmental education that support the WWD intern program and/or advance watershed and conservation goals
  • Provide meaningful community outreach to find ideal intern candidates 
  • Be willing to work with others and teach in a supportive, respectful, and friendly manner 
  • Willingness to work outside in a variety of weather conditions, in and around poison ivy patches and insect-infested areas 
  • Strong work ethic and ability to take initiative and act independently in preparing for scheduled teaching assignments 
  • Strong leadership and communication skills required 
  • Must be very dependable and punctual 
  • Must be able to engage with the public, particularly youth, in hands-on, outdoor conservation experiences that build awareness of the importance of protecting and recovering priority and/or at-risk species and habitats and promote stewardship 
  • Must have a current driver's license and a clean driving record.  
  • Competency in using Microsoft Office Suite, Google Apps, and basic Internet research techniques 

Preferred qualifications: 

  • Previous experience, training, or knowledge about workforce development, candidate screening, and project management 
  • Strong organizational and interpersonal skills are required 
  • Exceptional follow-up skills 
  • Ability to work independently, prioritize, organize, problem solve and exercise good judgment 
  • Ability to coordinate a variety of projects simultaneously, demonstrate flexibility and creativity 
  • Must possess an extensive understanding of effective job posting strategies and resources
  • Must have knowledge in resume building, interviewing, networking, and social media
  • Working knowledge of MS Office Suite and basic Internet research techniques 
  • Ability to work effectively under time pressure and/or deadlines 
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills 
  • Willingness to work flexible, varying hours including evenings and weekends as needed 
  • Interest and ability to advance a citizen science or water quality monitoring program that 

      addresses community quality water priorities 

  • Desire to improve citizen understanding of damaging trash and litter impacts in local waterways that affect community health and local economies

Primary duties: 

  • Lead the TEK interns on field-service learning days (16 hr/wk, March-June, September-December) 
  • Work closely with the ITEK instructor (Dawn) to collaborate with in-class and in-field days. Eg. Site assessments,  documentation, and assignments
  • Work closely with the Intern Program coordinator (Adrienne)
  • Ensure ITEK curriculum is incorporated ITEK internship field days 
  • Fill out daily reports for all field days 

○ Collect and share data with Adrienne Moat for grant reports 

  • Attend weekly and quarterly program meetings with the WWD team 
  • Expand local ecological and restoration partnerships 
  • Attend all bi-monthly staff meetings and weekly intern meetings
  • Occasionally attend Wisdom community or program events 
  • Take photos/videos during intern cohorts to share with the Social Media team  

    (Collaborate with Damien for filming events)

  • Contribute to WOTE newsletters (submit to Damien for posting)
  • Collaborate with partner organizations to plan field-service learning days ● Maintain tool and gear inventory for internship
  • Work with staff to participate and attend meetings in collaborative partnership programs 

Physical Requirements: 

Applicants will work both in a general office setting and outside. Must have tolerance for working outdoors in a variety of weather conditions and exposure to biting insects, poison oak, thorns, etc. Educators must have the ability to safely lift at least 20 pounds. They need to be able to walk over rough terrain, wood-chipped trails, muddy areas, grassy fields, and walk on uneven paths, etc. 

Benefits: 

*Paid Time Off in addition to the State of Oregon’s Sick Pay hours 

*8 paid holidays plus Christmas through New Year off

*$200/mo. Health Stipend. 

How to Apply: 

Email your resume to teresa@wisdomoftheelders.org with Environmental Instructor in the Subject line. 

Application Deadline: Open till filled

Wisdom of the Elders 2026 Summer Newsletter A paid internship, now enrolling. Plus elders' voices, mapped to the land they came from.
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

What We Plant, We Pass On

Wisdom of the elders Multimedia Services

Greetings, Friends of Wisdom,


The summer season has a way of moving fast, and this season has been no exception. Between fieldwork, new partnerships, and the everyday work of listening and preserving, our community showed up for each other and for the land we share.


We're grateful for every hand that helped make this season count, and we're glad to share a bit of it with you here. 


Our Wisdom of the Elders archive continues to grow, with new conversations from our tape collection making their way online – elders speaking in their own words, no interruptions, no filters. There is something about hearing a story the way it was actually told, at the pace it was actually told, that no summary has ever managed to hold.


We've also been out in the field this summer with our Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) crew, capturing the land stewardship and ecological knowledge work that grounds so much of what we do.


Stephanie Craig


We spent time with Stephanie Craig, a 7th-generation Kalapuya weaver and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, documenting her basket-weaving practice for an upcoming series, Seven Generations of Knowledge, carried in a pair of hands.


Watch The Featured Video
ITEK Partners

It Takes Many Hands

We're also proud to be part of the BRANCH Coalition, a group of organizations working together on invasive species removal, native plant restoration, watershed stewardship, and care of urban green spaces across the Portland area.


Our partners in this work include Portland Parks, Urban Forestry Project, Connecting Canopies, The Blueprint Foundation, Depave, Friends of Trees, Verde PDX, Columbia Slough, POIC, APANO, BPI PDX, and the City of Gresham. It takes many hands to care for this land well, and we're grateful to do so alongside organizations that share the same commitment.


Wisdom Digital Archive Initiative 

Multimedia: Putting 30+ years of Archival footage on the Map

Behind the scenes, we're preparing our full video library for a larger public home so more people can access this work. Our web team is also building out a major piece of our Digital Archive Initiative: an interactive online story map that will let visitors explore our archive by place, connecting oral histories, video, photographs, and traditional ecological knowledge directly to the land they come from.


The stories will no longer live in a list. They will live where they happened so that someone can open the map, find a place they know, and hear an Elder speak about it. It's one of the more ambitious projects we've taken on, and we can't wait to bring it online.


Board of Directors and our Wisdom Radio Program

We're also working closely with our Board of Directors on a full relaunch of our Radio Program, with plans to bring it to every major platform, making it easier than ever to listen wherever you are. Stay tuned; this one's been a long time coming, and we're excited to share more soon.


2026 ITEK Fall Internship

Fall 2026 Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge Internship Enrollment is Now Open!


We're excited to announce that enrollment is officially open for our Fall 2026 ITEK Internship, and we can't wait to welcome our next cohort! We're accepting applications from anyone passionate about Environmental Conservation & Restoration and how Wisdom integrates Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) into our work.


This paid 12-week program combines hands-on fieldwork with partner organizations, along with in-person and online sessions covering ITEK, STEAM-related concepts, and Native American cultural arts and plant knowledge. Interns earn $19.00 an hour. It's a hands-on, heart-forward opportunity to build real skills while deepening your connection to land and community.


Spots are limited, so don't wait! 


You can read more about the program here and apply here


Questions are always welcome. Contact 


dawn@wisdomoftheelders.org and carmelina@wisdomoftheelders.org


We can't wait to see who joins us this Fall!


ITEK VIDEO

Save the Date 

Wieden+Kennedy: Dec 5, 2026 

Seeds of Wisdom Event


There's one more thing we've been building toward, and we're glad to finally share it.


Later this year, we'll gather in person for Seeds of Wisdom, our end-of-year fundraiser, hosted at Wieden+Kennedy here in Portland. Wisdom of the Elders is creating an event centered on Indigenous storytelling, environmental stewardship, and workforce development the same three threads that run through everything you've just read. It felt right to bring them into one room.


We're looking for partners who want to support meaningful community impact while helping amplify Native voices and leadership in Portland and beyond. If that sounds like you, or like an organization you're part of, we would love to hear from you. We're building our partner roster now, which means there's still real room to help shape what this evening becomes.


***As a note for those who have supported us through Willamette Week's Give!Guide in past years, we're not part of Give!Guide this season. 


We've Joined Earth Gives


Earth Gives is a nationwide platform connecting donors with organizations advancing solutions for people and the planet.


It is a natural fit for us: our work has always lived where cultural preservation and ecological stewardship meet the archive and the watershed, the storyteller and the seed, and Earth Gives puts that work in front of people across the country who care about both. 


Our end-of-year giving runs through Seeds of Wisdom and Earth Gives and we hope you'll join us there instead.


If you've been looking for a simple way to support what you've read about here, this is it.


Want to stay closer to what we're up to day-to-day? Find us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube; more is coming there soon, including TikTok and Threads.


There's more coming this fall. Thank you for being part of it.


Wisdom of the Elders, Inc.

Portland, Oregon

wisdomoftheelders.org


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Copyright @ 2026 Wisdom of the Elders, Inc, All rights reserved.

3917 NE Shaver st. Portland, Oregon 97212