[URBANTH-L] Orton Family Foundation Fellowship (Social Planning, Ecosystems, and "Bridging the Divide")

[Angela Jancius]

Foundation Fellow: Orton Family Foundation
Deadline: April 14, 2006

The Orton Family Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation are 
pleased to announce a novel partnership to develop new tools and resources 
to help communities in the U.S. better understand and protect the natural, 
cultural and economic resources vital to their long-term success, especially 
in sensitive high-growth coastal areas. Over the next two years, Packard 
will invest $250,000 to help Orton undertake this new initiative, called the 
"Bridging the Divide" project. These funds, combined with Orton's staff and 
technology resources, allow the partners to hire an Orton-Packard Fellow to 
assist in research and other project activities and to develop a pilot 
program for implementing new planning tools and processes in select 
"showcase" coastal communities where growth pressures are competing with 
ecological health.

In light of recent events such as Hurricane Katrina and the looming threat 
of global climate change, Orton and Packard have identified a critical need 
for tools and processes that effectively integrate ecosystem science in the 
development and assessment of community planning scenarios in ways that the 
public and decision-makers can readily understand and act on. Likewise, the 
foundations believe the scientific community would benefit from tools and 
techniques that more effectively engage the public to help build consensus 
around critical ecosystem management measures in the context of broader 
community development objectives.

To support this effort, Orton is seeking to hire a full-time, 2-year 
Orton-Packard Fellow. This new position will work closely with staff from 
Orton and NatureServe, the Washington, DC-based organization that provides 
scientific information and tools for effective conservation, to assess the 
range of tools and techniques available for community planning and ecosystem 
based management; identify opportunities and challenges in integrating 
"social" and "science" tools research; develop methodologies for how to more 
effectively integrate the range of community planning tools with ecosystem 
based management tools; and, initiate a pilot program in select coastal 
communities to integrate and implement a set of conservation/community 
planning tools and methods. The Orton-Packard Fellow will report primarily 
to Orton's Director of Planning Tools and secondarily to NatureServe's 
Science Applications Manager. The Fellow will also work with an Advisory 
Committee set up to provide direction and support for this initiative. The 
position will be based in Orton's Denver, Colorado, office with frequent 
visits to NatureServe's Washington D.C. headquarters.

Position Goals and Responsibilities

Working with Orton and NatureServe staff, the Fellow will help develop and 
implement a new project, Bridging the Divide: Integrating Social Planning 
and Science Planning Tools
to Promote Vibrant and Sustainable Communities. Activities include:

. Establish and maintain a knowledge base of relevant land use planning and 
natural science tools.
. Maintain active and ongoing research of these tools and characterize their 
capabilities, requirements, and limitations relevant to the Packard 
Foundation's ecosystem-based management process framework.
. Collaborate with NatureServe on a strategy to merge and/or integrate 
existing tools databases to create a unified on-line resource adaptable to 
multiple audiences with customized user interfaces and the capacity to grow.
. Work with NatureServe in developing a report listing the prioritized 
tools, performance ratings, and justification of their prioritization. 
Collaborate with NatureServe to ensure high priority tools are described on 
Orton's PlaceMatters website.
. Create outreach products to inform communities of the availability of 
tools to serve their ecosystem-based management needs and groundtruth the 
usefulness of the products.
. Validate outreach product effectiveness through active solicitation of 
feedback and review; modify products in response to feedback.
. Collaborate with other Packard Foundation programs to assess their needs 
and potential contributions relative to the Bridging the Divide Program, and 
incorporate findings into the Tools database and assess the technical and 
practical gaps between "social" tools and "science" tools.
. Research case studies that illustrate these gaps as well as tools and 
projects that have had success in bridging them.
. Work in partnership with NatureServe in their efforts to establish and 
coordinate a network of ecosystem-based management tool developers and users 
.
. Provide training and outreach to help broaden and deepen the understanding 
and use of innovative decision support tools in communities engaged in 
discussions about the future of their region.
. Scope out the objectives and logistics of developing a jointly funded RFP 
for pilot projects in coastal communities.

Key Qualifications

Recognizing this job crosses several disciplines, we will be looking for 
candidates that meet many but not necessarily all of these qualifications.
. Affinity for Orton's and Packard's mission and knowledge of the field
. Commitment to civic engagement, social and economic equity and 
environmental protection
. Strong GIS skills
. Knowledge of ecosystem management modeling tools
. Knowledge of and skill with a range of decision support tools
. Knowledge of database creation and management
. Strong research and writing skills
. Knowledge of and experience with community/land use planning
. Experience with web-based communication technologies
. Excellent communications skills, both oral and written
. Experience working with diverse constituencies and in a variety of 
settings
. Demonstrated team player
. Ability to work independently
. Willingness to travel
. Conscientiousness, dependability and an eye for detail
. A post-doc or highly qualified Master's graduate in planning, 
environmental/public policy or a related field

By April 14th, 2006, email cover letter and resume to:
Mariann Brennan
Administrative Assistant
Orton Family Foundation
email: mabrennan at orton.org

The Orton Family Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.
Salary: Based on education and experience, full benefits
Contact:Mariann Brennan

Email:mabrennan at orton.org

Phone:(303) 964-0903

Fax:(802) 609-0097

Org.:Orton Family Foundation

Web:http://www.orton.org

Dept.:

Address:
Denver, CO 80501
United States