A Day in the Life of a Volunteer Coordinator at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Maria's role as Volunteer Coordinator/Community Science Coordinator at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park involves managing over 240 volunteers who perform "90% of the park's operations," from visitor center duties to trail maintenance and wildlife monitoring. This requires extensive project management, training, and report writing, showcasing the vital role volunteers play in park conservation and the diverse responsibilities of a volunteer coordinator in ensuring their effective contribution.
Project Management, Data Analysis, Community Engagement, Volunteer Coordination, Environmental Conservation
Advizer Information
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Job Title
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Undergrad
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Maria Maurico
Volunteer Coordinator/Community Science Coordinator
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park (Sonoma Ecology Center)
California State University - Sacramento
NA
Biology & Related Sciences
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
Video Highlights
1. Manages and coordinates a large volunteer base (240+), encompassing various tasks from visitor center operations to trail maintenance and wildlife monitoring.
2. Plays a key role in park operations, with 90% of tasks driven by volunteers, highlighting the importance of volunteer coordination in natural resource management.
3. Responsibilities include project management, data analysis, report writing, and training volunteers in diverse roles, showcasing a versatile and dynamic job description.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your current role?
One of my main responsibilities is to coordinate our community of volunteers at Sugar Oak Ridge State Park. I coordinate about 240 plus volunteers, which is a lot.
This involves a lot of emailing, scheduling, and project management. As I mentioned, 90% of the park's operations are led by our volunteers. This includes everything from the volunteer center to the visitor's center, leading and creating content for hikes, park and trail maintenance, and the management of our natural resources.
Volunteers also monitor our wildlife population at the park. They do a lot of the work that would otherwise take a lot of staff time.
I handle the more tedious tasks that we usually wouldn't have a volunteer do, like writing permits, creating reports, and doing data analytics. This makes my role versatile and fun, as every day is different.
My main role here at Sugar Oak Ridge State Park is establishing our volunteer community, doing volunteer orientations, and a lot of training. I train people on every role imaginable, and even on roles we don't have yet, creating new projects based on the park's needs.
I think volunteer work is often overlooked. While I feel appreciated, I believe in general, volunteer work is really needed in all aspects for keeping parks and natural resources available for the public, and also for conservation.