Land and Environmental Programs Manager

Land and Environmental Programs Manager

Title:

Land and Environmental Programs Manager

Reports to:

Director of Land Management and Environmental Programs

Supervises:
Assistant Land and Environmental Programs Manager, contractors, volunteers, and consultants

The Land and Environmental Programs Manager joins a team of intellectually curious, scientifically rigorous, hard-working, and interdisciplinary professionals who support the unique mission and vision of the Elling Eide Center, located in Sarasota, Florida.

This position is responsible for executing a comprehensive land management plan that protects, preserves, maintains, and restores the 72-acre nature preserve surrounding the Elling O. Eide Library, as well as supporting the Center's broader environmental programs. Significant program areas include environmental land management, restoration and enhancement, as well as horticulture of native, ornamental, and edible plants.

The Eide Preserve contains at least eleven land cover types, including Florida scrub and scrubby flatwoods that require prescribed burning. Leading a prescribed fire program at the Eide Center is an essential job duty.

Additionally, because the Eide Center exists at the intersection of conservation science and humanities scholarship, this position engages meaningfully with visiting national and international scholars, as well as diverse archaeological, historical, and cultural resources within the preserve.

The Elling Eide Center is a nonprofit research library, nature preserve, and cultural retreat located on 72 acres of rare coastal habitat in Sarasota, Florida. Named after scholar and preservationist, Elling Oliver Eide (1935–2012), the Center’s mission is to advance scholarly research in the humanities and environmental sciences with a particular emphasis on Asian studies. The Center houses one of the most significant private collections of East Asian literature in the United States, as well as one of the last remaining reserves of biodiversity in an increasingly urbanized Florida coastline.

Their approach to scholarship, grounded in nature, provides students and scholars with a unique opportunity to address critical questions at the intersection of culture, climate, and conservation. More information about the Eide Center’s strategic initiatives may be found in the Case for Support.

At the heart of Elling’s vision for the Eide Center is the Eide Library, a private, independent, non-profit, non-circulating, research library. The Eide Preserve surrounds the library and grounds the collection, research, and operations in nature. Land management is guided by the Preserve Management Plan, v1.0.

Work is typically related to land management at the Eide Preserve or performing environmental programs in support of the Elling Eide Center, under the direction of the program Director. In general, work assignments include but are not limited to:

• Daily preserve management and maintenance oversight
• Plan, coordinate, and implement prescribed burns as Certified Burn Manager in urban interface context
• Native plant nursery and arboretum maintenance, landscape management
• Habitat monitoring and invasive species control
• Contractor and volunteer coordination
• Equipment operation including tractors, UTVs, mowers, and hand tools
• Coordinate land management activities with visiting scholars and research programs
• Protect and maintain archaeological features during all preserve operations
• Occasionally support facilities and structures repair

• Documentation and data management
• GIS mapping and analysis
• Biotic surveys and monitoring
• Report preparation and data analysis
• Grant support and reporting

• Management plan updates
• Public outreach and education
• Partnership development, including County, State, Federal and NGOs
• Budgeting
• Visitor researcher coordination
• Infrastructure planning

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, ecology, conservation biology, natural resource management, or related…