Are you interested in the sciences and do you like talking with visitors?

The Anchorage Museum is recruiting enthusiastic team players interested in public engagement and hands-on learning to fill the position of part-time/seasonal Discovery Center Interpreter. The Discovery Center Interpreter is the face of the Discovery Center (DC). It is responsible for greeting visitors, monitoring DC zones, ensuring an excellent visitor experience, rotating through spaces answering visitor questions, assisting with daily operations, presenting public educational demonstrations, and planetarium programs, and supporting other programs throughout the Anchorage Museum.

The Anchorage Museum sits on the traditional homeland of the Eklutna Dena'ina. The Museum is committed to recognizing and honoring the land, culture, and language of the Dena'ina people. We recognize and respect the continuing connection, by Alaska Native people and all Indigenous people, to the land, waters, and communities. The mission of the Museum is to be a museum for people, place, planet, and potential, in service of a sustainable and equitable North, with creativity and imagination for what is possible. Our vision is of a place of ideas and transformation, narratives and perspectives, resilient and relevant communities, responsive to a rapidly changing world toward a better future for all. The Anchorage Museum aspires to embody and inspire the people of Alaska and enhance its global profile while contributing to a healthy and vibrant community.

Summary Position Statement

Under the general direction of the Director of Planetarium & Discovery Center, the Discovery Center Interpreter is the face of the Discovery Center (DC) and is responsible for greeting visitors, monitoring DC zones ensuring an excellent visitor experience, rotating through spaces answering visitor questions, and assisting with daily operations, presenting public educational demonstrations, and providing support for other programs throughout the Anchorage Museum.

This is an entry-level seasonal position. Essential Functions:

• Assist visitors in exploring and understanding the exhibits and displays in the Discovery Center
• Help facilitate visitor experiences with hands-on CoLab activities
• Present short educational demonstrations to the public, including animal demonstrations, that model best practices in science and inquiry-based education
• Support educational demonstrations by checking schedules, compiling needed materials or supplies, and communicating with volunteers and other education department staff
• Present planetarium shows to public audiences
• Document and make timely reports of all exhibit breakages and malfunctions to the Planetarium and Programs Manager
• Ensure that public areas and exhibits are functioning, cleaned, organized, safe, and attractive within the Discovery Center
• Assist staff with daily routines on the floor and behind the scenes
• Enforce general museum rules by modeling and encouraging appropriate behavior

Non-Essential Functions:

• As assigned, provide limited care for the Museum's live animal collection that includes reptiles and aquatic invertebrate and vertebrate species
• Attend meetings as required
• As assigned, provides support for camps, school groups, and other educational programs

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Excellent interpretive skills, and experience in visitor engagement and inquiry education.
• Excellent oral & written communications skills
• Team player, positive attitude, & service oriented
• Responsible, reliable, motivated, & positive attitude
• Flexible & committed to the Anchorage Museum's objectives, goals, and programming for minds-on, hands-on learning

Qualifications:

• One-year experience using word processing software
• Previous experience in after-school programs and/or informal education preferred
• Must be interested in science and discovery

Employee Expectations:

As an AMA employee, the incumbent is expected to model the following traits:

• Foster and maintain open communication and collaboration and actively engage in the exchange of ideas and maintain constructive relationships
• Initiative and creativity in all aspects of the position
• Lead by example by maintaining a high standard of professional ethics and conduct
• Treat everyone with dignity and respect
• Support and uphold the policies and procedures of the Museum

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required.