Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for candidates for the 2012 Seattle Volunteer Naturalist program. The perfect candidates for the program are people who love sharing nature with others and would like to learn more about the flora and fauna of Seattle’s many public green spaces and parks.

As a volunteer naturalists, people will participate in 10 weeks of training and commit to providing 12 programs a year at Environmental Learning Centers and in parklands near schools throughout Seattle.

Volunteer naturalists provide hands-on learning opportunities for school groups and nature programs for families and adults at Discovery Stations, destination locations throughout parks that present visitors with a theme and natural objects that help them discover their backyard parks.

For example, volunteers would have a spotting scope at Bald Eagle nest locations and at Green Lake Park so visitors could follow the nesting cycle of Bald Eagles or Pied Billed Grebes. Another is a station at Me Kwa Mooks Beach or Discovery Park Beach with shells and information about intertidal creatures. One could be a Forest Station to introduce people to the many plants, mammals and birds that make the forested parklands home.

Volunteers’ backgrounds are as varied as the students they teach - the common thread is their desire to share nature with the greater Seattle community.

The goal of the Seattle Volunteer Naturalist Program is to enhance, promote and foster appreciation of nature by connecting citizens and students with their Seattle parklands, by providing educational opportunities for all.

Training begins in March 8, 2012. Deadline for applications is February 10, 2012. For more information and to get an application, please email Penny Rose at penny.rose@seattle.gov or call her at 206-386-4250.