WVDEP-DWWM-WIB Project WET VISTA – VISTA Summer Associate -AmeriCorps

 

 

Position Title:  Project WET VISTA – VISTA Summer Associate

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placement

 

Site Location:

WVDEP-DWWM-WIB

601 57th Street SE., Charleston, WV 25304

 

Terms of Service:


* Start Date: 6/1/2026


* End Date: 8/9/2026


* AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 300 hours (Minimum-Time)

 

Purpose:


* Project WET partnerships with watershed groups, the National Youth Science Academy, the Youth Environmental Program, Save Our Streams, Project Learning Tree, and Project WILD to offer a diverse network to disadvantaged youth and communities of need.

Project WET values community empowerment through the ownership and knowledge of their local watershed.  The Water-Use and Conservation Program specifically targets schools and nonprofits in need of a water source to grow vegetables and native plants, which is vital in food deserts.

West Virginia has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the country and the most significant driver for food insecurity is poverty.


* This project will streamline our Water-Use and Conservation Program across West Virginia by ranking applications to allow the Project WET Coordinator to begin implementing the program.

Attending community events and conferences and tabling for Project WET will help gather emails for our newsletter which will launch over the winter of 2026, furthering our reach of water education materials and resources across the state.


* The goal for the Summer Associate member is to grow and broaden the West Virginia Project Water Education Today (Project WET) program and outreach initiatives in the Mountain State.  The project will focus on expanding the reach of Project WET resources and programming to poverty stricken areas of West Virginia and to attend environmental conservation camps.

Goals include creating a ranking system for applications for our Water-use and Conservation Program and completing at least one program with a nonprofit or educational institution; connect students to their local waterways by attending at least two summer conservation camps; and highlight careers with Project WET activities and presentations at conferences, community events, and summer schools.

 

Description of Duties:

The Summer Associate will focus on capacity-building activities that produce internal planning resources, documentation tools, and community engagement materials.

Duties may include compiling labor market research summaries, developing workforce resource inventories, creating community asset maps, organizing environmental data sets, drafting partnership coordination frameworks, designing planning templates and resource guides, and assisting with public-facing informational workshops, outreach campaigns, or site observations.

Activities are designed to strengthen host organizations’ capacity, guide long-term workforce and environmental program development, provide tangible connections between planning tools and comm...