Volunteer Engagement AmeriCorps Fellow

At The Marine Mammal Center, we are guided and inspired by a shared vision of a healthy ocean for marine mammals and humans alike. The Marine Mammal Center advances global conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, and education.

We rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured marine mammals at our state-of-the-art veterinary facilities by engaging a dedicated workforce and a supportive community. We learn from the patients in our care and contribute to scientific understanding of the changing health of our ocean, taking action to address ocean threats and save endangered species. We lead as a teaching hospital by training veterinary professionals locally and internationally, and inspiring future ocean stewards through innovative school and public education programs.

The Marine Mammal Center is the largest facility of its kind in the world. Founded in 1975, the Center has grown into an internationally renowned and state-of-the art marine mammal hospital, research center and educational organization. Each year, the Center treats 600 – 800 sick, injured and orphaned marine mammals, with the goal of rehabilitation and release. Its professional staff collaborates with over 30 different scientific, educational, federal, state and non-profit organizations from around the world. 

Marine mammal scientists and veterinarians from across the globe visit the Center and shadow its staff and volunteers to learn from the hundreds of animals treated each year, and from its acclaimed veterinary, scientific, and research staff. By collaborating with leading scientists and researchers to learn from the patients in their care, the Center expands and advances science to increase understanding of the health of the ocean and highlights implications for human health.

In addition to its work within the scientific community, the Center’s formal and informal education programs reach over 100,000 children and adults ever year. Ultimately, the Center’s work inspires action and fosters stewardship toward the care of our environment.

Overlooking the ocean in the Marin Headlands, in Sausalito, CA, the Center operates three field stations in its 600-mile rescue range on the California coastline from San Luis Obispo through Mendocino County. With the addition of our facility in Kona, Hawaii, the Center’s rescue range has increased to include the entire Hawaiian archipelago. With an annual operating budget of just over $9M, 70+ staff and 1,200 actively engaged volunteers depending on the time of year, the Center operates 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

The Volunteer Engagement AmeriCorps Fellow will work with the Volunteer Engagement Team in the People and Culture Department to support the Center’s 1,200 volunteers. The AmeriCorps Fellow will gain valuable experience in non-profit and volunteer management and will be the primary organizer of the Fish Kitchen Support Volunteer Program; a program that involves coordinating over 500 one day or short-term volunteers during the spring season. The intern will also assist with developing recruitment and recognition plans for the volunteer program.

The person in this role will have an amazing opportunity to grow in their professional development and learn valuable organizational, administrative, and inter-personal skills. Other benefits include the opportunity to work in a comfortable, friendly environment that includes over 70 staff and 1,200 volunteers who are all deeply passionate about ocean conversation.

This position is in partnership with the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership through the Volunteer Infrastructure Project. This role reports to one of two Volunteer Coordinators and is located at The Marine Mammal Center’s main hospital in the Marine Headlands in Sausalito, CA.

Manage the Fish Kitchen Support Volunteer program including but not limited to:

Other duties:

AmeriCorps Fellow serves from November 2018 through August 2019, 5 days a week for approximately 40 hours.