Join Our Team
At VCE, we’re proud of our dedicated and inspired staff, whose wide-ranging talents drive our mission. We also collaborate with graduate students and post-doctoral researchers working in various fields of conservation science.
Staff Positions
Director of Development
VCE seeks an experienced director of development to help fulfill our mission to advance wildlife conservation in the Northeast and internationally through scientific research and community engagement. This position presents an opportunity to lead a growing development program at a respected organization with a passionate staff and committed donor base. The successful candidate will manage a strategic, relationship-based fundraising program with a focus on expanding major gifts, growing the annual fund, and ramping up our planned giving program. A regular presence in the office is required. This position offers health, dental, vision, and retirement benefits plus generous paid time off.
Full Posting / Job Description
Annual Fund Manager
VCE seeks an annual fund manager to refine and improve our growing annual giving program. The successful applicant will help develop fundraising strategy and stewardship programs for annual fund donors. Key qualifications include strong communication skills, ability to collaborate and work independently, and recent experience in nonprofit development. Enthusiasm for VCE’s mission and motivation to perform high-quality work are also required. This position offers health, dental, vision, and retirement benefits plus generous paid time off.
Seasonal Positions
Seasonal positions with VCE are short-term, nonexempt roles that provide invaluable support for one or more specific projects.
VCE is hiring an experienced bander to work on two exciting projects from mid-April to mid-July 2026. This position will be focused primarily on the targeted capture of birds for nanotag and geolocator deployment and recovery. Successful candidates must possess strong mist-netting and banding skills, as well as a desire and enthusiasm for contributing to active and rugged fieldwork. Applications are due January 30th.
We are looking to hire a field technician to assist in ground truthing species distribution model results in northern Vermont. For more information on this 11 week position, view the job description here. Applications are due January 30th.
VCE seeks to hire a seasonal field technician to complete butterfly surveys across Vermont for the second Butterfly Atlas. To learn more about this 14 week position, view the job description here. Applications due January 30th
Diversity and Inclusion
We at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies know that biological communities and organizations are strongest and most resilient when they are most diverse. However, we have much work to do to create and sustain diversity and equity in the field of ecology itself—one of the least diverse fields of science. As an organization that aims to “unite people and science for conservation,” we recognize that to truly advance that goal we must create a culture that celebrates diversity, fosters inclusivity, and values dissenting opinions and rigorous examination within our own community.
Diversity drives innovation. We will more actively seek to increase the diversity of our staff, board, volunteers, and supporters to more closely resemble the diverse communities that utilize our science and research. We are committed to a workplace free of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or nationality; gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation; socio-economic class; age; accessibility needs; religion or worship practices; veteran or military service status; education; or political affiliation.
Equity is our ethos. We strive to implement policies and practices that ensure everyone has fair, equitable access to opportunities to contribute and thrive. To achieve this goal, we must identify and break down barriers that prevent some groups from fully engaging with us through employment, volunteer, and educational opportunities.
Inclusion empowers. People who feel included are creative and inspired by the culture around them to grow and to reach outside their community. Only by feeling included can any of us reach our potential as individuals, and as collaborative actors. We will know we are inclusive when we see it develop in our colleagues–as they shed their skins and become inspired speakers and actors in their professional work, willing to take risks, and to grow.
VCE values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we are committed to action that creates and sustains meaningful change, both within our organization and our broader sphere of influence.
We endeavor to:
- seek out the science and research of Black, Indigenous, People of Color naturalists and biologists, and amplify their voices through VCE’s work and outreach channels;
- explore avenues for increasing diversity within the birding and naturalist communities and improving access to naturalist pursuits in Vermont;
- bring increased focus to the biodiversity value of urban landscapes in Vermont and beyond;
- reexamine our partnerships to collaborate with racially diverse institutions;
- evaluate our outreach, employment, and programming practices and priorities to build diversity across our organization—including volunteers, interns, staff, board, and constituents.
- prominently display this Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement on our website
Read More
Read VCE’s Commitment to Racial Justice
Embracing the Community: It’s time to take the “citizen” out of citizen science
VCE heartily supports the work of Bird Names For Birds. #BirdNames4Birds
