Digital Archives Member - Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Summary: American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the National Park Service, is seeking ONE Digital Archives Member to assist with digitizing archival materials and a variety of other cultural resource management projects alongside Cumberland Gap National Historical Park staff.

For more information on ACE, please visit: www.usaconservation.org.

Start Date: June 27, 2022 (flexible for right candidate)

End Date: October 31, 2022 (or 18 weeks after start date)

*a 18-week minimum commitment is required*

Location: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park - the corners of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia

The Park contains 24,000 acres of which 14,000 acres are proposed wilderness. The natural beauty of Appalachian mountain country, lush with vegetation, supports diverse populations of flora and fauna. Cumberland Gap has 70 miles of hiking trails, mountains, streams, and caves. Middlesboro, Kentucky is the nearest town and is large enough to accommodate three grocery stores, several restaurants, and a movie theater. Knoxville, Tennessee is approximately 1.5 hours away and holds many amenities of a large city.

For more information regarding Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, or the National Park Service, please visit: http://www.nps.gov/cuga/index.htm.

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $260/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly. The ACE Member will be provided with a one-time equipment allowance of $200 for the purchase of field boots.

Housing: IF there is room in the NPS dormitory, it will be available at no cost to the ACE Member and an allowance equivalent to its rent will be provided. The member may opt out of NPS housing in favor of their own rental location and a housing allowance of $700/month ($175/week) will be provided, making the total living allowance $435/week.

NOTE: It can be rather difficult to secure rental accommodations in the Middlesboro area.

AmeriCorps: This position may be eligible for a 675-hour AmeriCorps Education Award ($2,417.14) upon successful completion of service hours. Additional enrollment and volunteer service are required.

Position Description:

The overarching goal of this project is to catalog and preserve Cumberland Gap NHP's archival materials and improve access to resource management records and important park documents.

Responsibilities will include:

• Identifying, evaluating, and digitizing Cumberland Gap's archival materials to facilitate NPS staff and public access to important park archival materials
  • Identifying and cataloging park archival materials into NPS databases, as needed
  • Digitizing archival materials following established protocols
  • Rehousing archival materials following established NPS procedures
  • Creating finding aids as needed
  • Making recommendations for future prioritization of preservation efforts
  • Digitizing and rehousing up to 20 linear feet of archival materials

A secondary goal of this project is to provide support for Cumberland Gap NHP's Cultural Resource Program Manager by assisting with cultural resource and museum management responsibilities.

Responsibilities will include:

• Assisting the Cultural Resource Program Manager to ensure Cumberland Gap and NPS resource obligations are met
  • Conducting archeological site condition assessments
  • Conducting historic structure condition assessments
  • Entering data into NPS databases
  • Assisting with archeological fieldwork as needed
  • Assisting with museum management responsibilities (Annual Inventories of Museum Property, rehousing museum materials, cataloging Natural, Cultural, and/or archival materials)
  • Photographing of museum objects
  • Conducting up to 80 archeological and historic structure conditions assessments
  • Photographing up to 2000 museum objects

The ACE Member will receive on-the-job learning experience with cultural resource management responsibilities within the National Park Service via professional mentoring and hands-on experience.

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Qualifications

Required:

• Members must be U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents, as required to comply with U.S. government contracts.
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner.
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group.
• A valid driver's license and an insurable driving record (documentation to be provided upon request).
• Willing to undergo and must pass required criminal history checks.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members must verify that they are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or have requested and been granted a medical or religious exemption to vaccination by the time they start their term.

Preferred:

• Competitive applicants for this position can hold or be pursuing a minimum of a bachelor's degree and/or have relevant experience in cultural resource management or other related disciplines.

To Apply: Please submit your resume, a cover letter demonstrating your interest and experience, and contact information for three professional/academic references to the online application page for this position here: https://usaconservation.applicantpool.com/jobs/. Early consideration will be given as resumes are received. This position may close at any time. If you have any questions regarding this position please feel free to contact ACE EPIC NPS Recruitment Specialist, Madison Ficca, at mficca@usaconservation.org.

EEO: American Conservation Experience provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, American Conservation Experience complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

Current Openings for Digital Archives Member Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Jobs at American Conservation Experience - EPIC