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Working and volunteering with OceansWatch

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We realise that our projects represent once in a lifetime experiences and at first they could seem like a wonderful way to do some travelling in tropical islands.  But our projects are purely for climate change work, conservation and sustainable development and we are looking for people dedicated to what we do and why. Below we have described what all our team members need in order to join us on projects and we encourage you to pursue joining us, only if you are sure you match these criteria:

 

It is an essential requirement to be a committed conservationists or have a keen interest in helping others.
This is our #1 essential requirement. When applying please discuss this in your covering letter including past initiatives you have been involved in. Other helpful general attributes are:

 

• Some sailing ability or at least a keen interest. If you get seasick often this may not be for you. We give lots of training so by the end of the trip you will be a good crew but we cannot start with all novices.

• Maturity. We need you to have a high level of self awareness (you can be sure it will be tested) – that you balance being sensitive to your own needs so that you stay happy and enthusiastic, with the needs of others so that you can offer mutual support. We need you to know and use your strengths, and manage your weaknesses, including the ability to take feedback for development.  If you find this hard to do, this may not be for you..

• An easy going attitude (you can be sure it will be tested). Are you really easy going? or does stuff “really bug you” If you sweat the small stuff, this is not for you! We like to get the job done really well and we like to have some fun too but conditions can be very difficult for those not used to working in developing countries or living in small spaces.

• Responsibility. You need a strong sense of responsibility. The work can be tiring and with a boat load of kids on board in the communities some days it can be hard to complete work in a timely manner.  We undertake projects with a set of goals in mind and we need each team member to feel equally responsible for us achieving all our goals.

• An interest and preferably experience in diving and snorkeling. For our marine jobs this is essential but everyone needs to be versitile and you may be asked to help out with marine surveys, so you should be enthusiastic and confident in the water.

 

What our volunteers have to say

"This experience with OW has been a huge eye opener for me on so many levels. I have learned so many things, and unlearned a bunch more, and I am infinitely grateful for all the lessons and experiences. I will forever remember this adventure with all of you, and can draw from it in so many aspects of my life. I have learned about personal space, about perseverance, about loving acceptance, about forgiveness. I have seen people and felt cultures I would have never encountered otherwise. I have learned languages and myths, and played with so many cool little ocean creatures and island children. This has given me direction in life (or other directions) and has put every part of my being to the test. Good luck in the future, Charlotte Leger, 2014"

 

Time committment.

We aim to spend from early May to mid November in the Pacific doing our work. March and April we perpare the yachts and do all the project preparation work. Early May we depart New Zealand. During late November we sail home and early December we de-commission the yachts and finalise reports etc. 

For 2016 we aim to recruit one full time skipper, one full time Mate as well as a full time Marine Program Manager and a full time Climate Change Assistant. Other positions could be for part season. Watch this space for updates and if applying please outline your availibility

 

Finances.

Staff. We always have several funding applications pending. This year we expect to be able to fund 1-2 marine biologists for a small part of the season but the rest of the time will be voluntary. ALL WAGES AND STIPENDS SUBJECT TO SUCCESSFUL GRANT APPLICATIONS.

Volunteers. We are a volunteer organisation with limited funding so a minimum donation of NZ$200 per week is required for all volunteer positions (all your accomodation and food on the yacht will be covered). If you are staying less than a full season the per week donation is listed below.

Office interns. Generally no financial commitment is required for office internships other than accommodation (very cheap!).

 

Qualifications and donations for volunteers.

To be effective on our projects you will need to have relevant skills and qualifications. We train our teams at the beginning of our trips. If you wish to start mid season as part of the marine team season you need to have appropriate experience already. Listed below are our minimum  academic requirements and donations. 
 

Length of stay

Minimum qualifications

Contribution

>20 weeks

Negotiable

NZ$200 pw

16-19 weeks

Degree or relevant experience

NZ$225 pw

12-15 weeks

Degree and relevant experience

NZ$250 pw

8-11 weeks

Masters degree

NZ$275 pw

4-7 weeks

Masters degree & relevent experience

NZ$300 pw

 

​​​​​​​​​​​Paperwork.

You must be appropriately insured. You must be able to pass a police test relevant to terrorism and child safety and not have a criminal record. Volunteers must pay for all their own visas and visa extensions and take responsibility for ensuring their eligibility for visas. 

 

Specific positions for 2018 in the SW Pacific:

These are the skill sets we need for 2017. Note that being able to cover more than one skill set is a big advantage. From March to when the yachts depart NZ ALL volunteers and staff are expected to pitch in with boat preparation as required.

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Terrestrial Environmental Economist 

We need someone to assist us in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands for ~4 weeks in September to work with and help train our local field team. The job is to assist in a Forestry Survey (basal area transects) to ascertain the economic feasibility of a FSC Milling and a Carbon Trading project as alternatives to logging. Some desk top research prior and a simple report needed after the trip. We have an office and basic accommodation near the field site. We cover a flight from a Pacific rim country and cover in field expenses but this grant does not cover a wage. Suit recent MSc graduate. GIS mapping experience would help. Ability to do tree ID in this habitat. Understanding of REDD+, Plan Vivo, FSC etc all help. Option to join our small yacht in Vanuatu in July where we are visiting a Plan Vivo site and then sail with us to Temotu. This is a great opportunity to be part of a team that WILL SAVE 50,000 ha of prime rainforst from the loggers and miners and at the same time set up a SUSTAINABLE INCOME for local land owners.

 

Marine Scientist/Diver (volunteer assistant positions)

We need 1-2 marine biology assistants. You will also be responsible for assisting with snorkel and scuba surveys, report writing, assisting communities designate MPAs and delivering our Reef Guardian program, for which you will receive training. A Marine Scientist may also be asked to take on other roles in the project.

Ideally you will hold a degree in Marine Biology, Sustainable Fisheries Management or a similar related field, an understanding Climate Change and Reef Resilience principals is important. You must be a qualified diver to PADI Rescue diver or above. We need our Marine Scientists to start at least 4 weeks prior to departure to study previous year’s reports and prepare the current year’s programs.

 

Climate Change assistant (1 volunteer position)

All our projects have to take climate change into account. We need someone on board one of our yachts this year to help us to do follow up work in 2-3 communities in the Solomon Islands under the guidance of our Climate Change Program Manager, who may or may not be present in the Solomon Islands (subject to funding applications). The Solomon Islands work will be to do to undertake surveys in the villages to assess how the communities have got on since we undertook CC programs there in 2014. In addition we shall be presenting more awareness films and talks. 

In Vanuatu, we need the CC assistant to work with our CC Program Manager on vulnerability assessments, awareness, capacity building and adaptation.

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Sustainable development assistant (volunteer positions)

Our Virgin Coconut Oil program is proving to be very succesful. However in order to progress further this year we require some help. Currently, we have two villages producing oil and two villages that need more training and capacity building. We have a waiting list of villages wanting to join the scheme and some possible funding for equipment this year. Nearly all the oil we imported last year has been sold, in New Zealand.

 

Ideally you will have a health and organic farming/permaculture or gardening background, be passionate about helping others, especially empowering women. A keen advocacy of coconut oil and sailing background (or enthusiam to learn) will also help. The role will be to assist, part time over the next couple of months (online or at our office in Matapouri, NZ), with research about Coconut Oil and help with funding applications, business plans, organic certification and marketing. If the volunteer can find a donor agency that can support wages then the volunteer may be able to get paid. In April or May we shall sail to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands where we shall be training more women's cooperatives to produce the oil and filming the process. We shall also be looking at other possibilities such as Cacao. We visit some really remote Islands, where the culture is very strong and I guarantee that you will not meet a single tourist! This work is profound, hard, challenging and very rewarding.

 

Film maker and editor (volunteer position)

We have approximately 1tb of semi professional footage that is currently not being used. This role will involve editing the footage to tell our "story" and demonstrate the work we do. We can offer free accommodation to an editor at our office in Matapouri, New Zealand and a chance to join a field trip for a few weeks to fill in any gaps in the footage we have. Our field trips are by yacht and access very remote Islands.

 

Project leaders

Each project must be guided by a Project Leader. The Project Leader takes responsibility for ensuring that all the work is completed in a timely manner but most of all they need to be diplomats and be very well organised. Project Leaders also look after the finances, ensure that the crew are getting on (this can be a challenge), liaise with head office, keep up the energy on board and most importantly ensure that our core values are being adhered to. Project leaders should have had some leadership experience (although we give you coaching too and they should have a relevant MSc). Confidence is a big help as you may be asked to speak on behalf of the crew and meet Chiefs and government officials.

 

Yacht Skipper

Minimum qualification RYA Ocean Yachtmaster (or RYA Offshore Yachtmaster with several ocean passages) and 25,000nm AS SKIPPER. Reporting to OceansWatch Executive Director. Good engineering and general boat maintenance skills are essential as you will be responsible for boat prep (to NZ Cat 1) and sailing in very remote areas, so must be able to rely on your own resources. Very good people skills are absolutely essential in this position. An OceansWatch skipper needs to be very self aware and very good at empowering as oppsed to telling crew what to do! Safety is paramount so your record must be impeccable. You need recent First Aid qualifications. PADI Open Water diver (can be obtained during project preparation). We would expect the skipper to have a strong interest and be keen and able to contribute to other areas of our work. Subject to funding we hope that this position can be fiscally neutral but we are applying for grants to pay the skipper a small wage/stipend. We are looking for a skipper this year to pick up a yacht from the Philippines and take it to NZ via PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

 

First mate

This is a great opportunity to gain experience for an early career skipper. Minimum qualification RYA Offshore Yachtmaster and some engineering skills, PADI Open Water diver, recent First Aid. You will be sailing with OceansWatch CEO Chris Bone who has >230,00nm experience and loves to teach enthusiastic sailors. You job will be to back up Chris and take over if he needs to leave the boat for some reason. Good people skills essential. Volunteer position. Applicant will need to be able to cover or substantially contribute to other areas of our work.

 

Social scientists.

All our work revolves around doing what the community wants, NOT what we think that the community should want or needs. We must be very sensitive to individuals needs, village politics and must ensure that all stakeholders are full involved. This work requires training and experience with indigenous cultures. We always undertake socio-economic surveying using SEM-Pacifika guidelines and this requires meticulous record keeping and sensitivity. An aptitude for languages is essential. The is is a duel role volunteer position, I.E. you must be able to fulfill one of the above roles too. It may suit the Sustainable Development Assistant.

 

Office interns

New Zealand email operations@oceanswatch.org Europe email benoit@oceanswatch.org North America email donna@oceanswatch.org      

Please attach your C.V. and a covering letter.
 

OceansWatch recruitment process

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Thank you for inquiring about joining us on our projects with OceansWatch.  Below you will find the outline of our recruitment process so that you know what to expect.  We are very thorough and committed to finding the best people to join us in our important conservation work.

Application Process: Read the following documents first before going further and fill in the two word documents then email  chris@oceanswatch.org. Please include your C.V. a covering letter and any reference letters you would like us to view.

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1. After reviewing your resume and filled in questionnaire one of us will get back to you, and either ask you to go to the next phase of the application process or, if we did not think your application suitable at this time we may give you some tips as to what steps to take so that you would be more suitable in the future.

 

2. Now please email us your landline number and Skype account. 

 

3. You may be asked to talk to 2 OceansWatch people and if you are not too far from one of us we shall invite you to a face to face interview.  This is a critical part of the process given that our projects require us to work closely with each other.  If we feel that there isn’t a good fit with Oceanswatch, we will let you know and why.  We take recruitment for our projects very seriously as any strong differences in personality or approaches to work can greatly impact the effectiveness of our efforts within coastal communities.

 

​4. If all is fine by this stage, we should be in a position to offer you a position. We shall then send you some more documents that must be read, filled in and return in good time.

 

5. You will be sent reports of previous projects and an outline of the trip that you have applied for.

 

6. According to your expected role you will be invited to help start preparations for the trip, either working in our office or helping prepare a yacht.

 

7. You will be asked to fill out some personality profiles to help us assemble the best possible team on each yacht.

 

8. You will undertake other training according to the project requirements. This might include dive training, sailing, First Aid or academic learning.

 

9. We shall sail to Vanuatu or another training base (some people may fly) where you will undertake Reef Check  and Reef Guardian training and other specific project training.

 

10. If you have any questions about the recruitment process or how to actively fundraise to support yourself, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

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