Volunteer Positions Available at VIERS:
Positions to June 2010 have been
filled.
While there is a waiting list
available, it is unlikely there will be any open positions.
If you are planning to volunteer,
please apply early.
NOTE: No paid volunteer positions are available.
NOTE: VIERS is a no smoking
facility and no pets are allowed.
VIERS
Volunteer Support Staff
Stay for two weeks, a
month, or a couple of months!
The Virgin Islands
Environmental Resource Station (VIERS) offers opportunities for individuals and
couples to provide volunteer unpaid services throughout the year. Volunteers must be at least 18 years
old. Class groups and other large groups
cannot be accepted as volunteers. We are not able to accept as volunteers couples accompanied by their young children.
Throughout the entire
year, volunteers help VIERS staff with cleaning, weeding, painting and other
general activities associated with improving the facility.
From January through May,
VIERS hosts university and high school groups as well as a few researchers and
tourists as overnight guests. Assistance
is often needed with housekeeping [such as cleaning cabins, showers and
restrooms as well as laundry], kitchen help [such as meal presentation and
cleaning the dining hall and kitchen], store/office [such as stocking
inventory] as well as helping with improvement projects [such as light
carpentry and electric/plumbing projects]. Extra volunteers are needed to help
with groups in January and March or for major improvement projects.
From June through August,
in addition to providing support for a few research groups, VIERS concentrates
on providing direct environmental education to U.S. Virgin Islands and
Caribbean students and assistance is often needed in presenting guided hikes,
lectures, slide/video presentations, island tours, swimming lessons,
lifeguarding, etc.
In July, extra volunteers
are needed to help with our summer youth camps.
Applicants with youth environmental education experience and/or current
lifeguard certification are given preference.
From September through
December, VIERS has an occasional group visit that will require guest services,
but caretaking, weeding and facility improvements are the primary activities in
the fall.
VIERS operates throughout
the day and into the night. Volunteers are assigned duties throughout the day.
It is very rare that a volunteer will have a continuous four hour work
schedule. However, improvement projects
are usually scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on days when groups are not visiting
VIERS.
Caution:
Some activities will make you sweat,
some activities
will get you dirty,
and volunteers are often assigned to
clean toilets on daily basis!
In recognition of the
value of the services rendered, support staff members who provide at least 4
hours of service each day (or at least 28 hours per week) of unpaid volunteer
service at VIERS will be provided at no charge:
$Lodging consisting of a
single size bed in a cabin room shared usually with one other volunteer. Staff
cabin rooms are either approximately 16 ft x 16 ft (half of a full cabin) or 8
ft x 16 ft (one quarter of a full cabin).
Couples are provided their own room.
$Food for meals (breakfast,
lunch and dinner) at no charge. [Volunteers prepare their own meals except when
group meals are prepared. Food for
special diets is not provided.]
$Use of laundry facilities
at no charge which includes washer, dryer and detergent for the volunteer’s
personal clothing.
$Filtered drinking water and
ice for personal consumption.
$20% discount on items
purchased from the VIERS store. Items
purchased from the canteen are full price.
$Limited access to the
internet and web through one computer station located in the VIERS library. There is a fee for connecting to VIERS wireless internet
service from personal computers or internet access devices.
$Very limited personal use of VIERS office
and/or equipment (office computers, telephone/fax, and other office equipment).
Some use of VIERS office equipment may require a fee. [Note: Volunteers are
responsible for their personal long distance telephone charges. The use of
pre-paid long distance telephone cards is encouraged. Cell phone service is
limited.]
Volunteers are responsible for their personal travel arrangements and
travel expenses (including airfare, ferry and taxi) to and from VIERS at all
times. While we try to provide
assistance, VIERS is not obligated to provide transportation for personal
travel at any time.
Volunteers are
responsible for their personal expenses, especially long distance telephone
charges. (The use of pre-paid phone cards is encouraged.) Some cell phones work on the south side of
St. John but since VIERS is located at the bottom of three hills, reception is
spotty.
Volunteers must adhere to
the rules and regulations of the Virgin Islands National Park (VINP), the Drug
and Alcohol Policy of the University of the Virgin Islands, and the VIERS
Facility Use Policy of Clean Islands International.
Volunteers are not permitted
to have overnight guests or guests for meals without the prior permission of
the Operations Manager.
Applications are accepted
year-round. Send brief bio (no more than one-half page or brief resume of
skills, and references with current e-mail addresses to:
Randy Brown, VIERS
Administrator, E-mail address: Randy Brown, VIERS Administrator
Last updated: 11/12/09
You can now download a copy of the VIERS Volunteer
Agreement Form and VIERS Guest Form by selecting the following:
VIERS Volunteer Agreement(Word.doc
File)
VIERS Guest Form(Word.doc
File)