Students, Educators, Researchers & Native Habitat Stewards
Urban Paradise is for everyone. There are opportunities for most people in our community to help create it. Some groups can serve in special roles that provide the community they live in with unique services or resources.
Students, Educators, Scientists & Native Habitat Stewards are such a group. Each is on the path of learning - from an elementary-age student to a botanist with a graduate degree working professionally in her field.
Some Stewards are formally trained professionals with advanced academic credentials. Others are self-taught naturalists who have built their knowledge over years and decades. Areas of expertise ranging from native plants and nurseries to invasive plant removal to fishing.
If this describes you, or you want it to, then Academic & Professional is for you.
You probably already know that we are more at risk than any city on Planet Earth to Hurricane Storm-Surge combined with Sea-Level Rise.
Urban Paradise Guild (UPG) is mobilizing our whole community to join the fight to protect ourselves from Sea-Level Rise, Habitat Loss and Fisheries Collapse.
Who will teach them? Who will guide the emerging Community Leaders with unbiased facts? Who will show them techniques that work?
You.
UPG has unique programs and projects that create interfaces between members of the Community at large with the academic, research and applied stewardship.
UPG brings powerful resources to bear on the Projects and Initiatives we take on. We bring Team Leaders and Volunteers to bear. We have techniques and tools. We deliver quality results.
Our Government Partners include State, County and Municipal entities. Educational Partners range from 180 2nd Graders (all 9 Classes from a school) to Miami Dade College to individual PhDs.
Innovation and observation are integral parts of our work. We've got really cool projects you can choose from, or we can talk about helping you develop your own.
Imagine the good things we can accomplish:
Know How + Volunteer Power = Progress
Internships:
Students build their resumes while still in school. The UPG projects they complete help the community and the environment we all live in. Their long-duration relationship with UPG helps them build a body of knowledge and a body of work that sets them apart. When starting out on the next phase of their career, they will stand out among other candidates.
Service-Learning (S-L) Internships for MDC Students are a specialty.
Student Community Service:
Get the hours you have to for school. UPG has regularly scheduled Work-n-Play Days. Expect to work in the morning. BBQ and Kayaking are optional, and don't count for your hours.
Student Organizations:
Need a project to work on? We can arrange one-day experiences or long-term habitat stewardship projects for your group.
Job-Seekers:
A Volunteer Staff position with UPG keeps your Resume current while you help us protect our community. You'll gain new skills, new perspectives and new contacts.
Work within your field to deepen your knowledge, or in a new one to expand your horizons.
Educators:
Start your Students on a path toward understanding and living in harmony with the natural world. Draw on UPG's resources to create Real World / Real Impact experiences for them. Commitments can be project-based or long-term. Nurseries are an especially good option for you, and require less space than you think.
Scientists & Researchers:
Have you ever wished you had the resources or connections to start a project that can really test a promising theory on a large scale?
We may have just what you seek.
Native Habitat Steward Professionals:
Are you aware of environmental solutions that can't be explored because of withheld resources or bureaucratic factors? Do you need to develop test-results in order to justify a request for major resources?
Let's talk about possibilities.
Native Habitat Steward Self-Taught:
Do you have a restoration method that works, but can't find official support for? Are there effective techniques you can teach us?
Let's talk about possibilities.
Even if you're not sure if you fit into these categories, don't worry. Become an entry-level Volunteer, and you will build the Skill Sets that will qualify you to be a Steward.
If you've read this far, click the link and fill out the user-form. Please state the area you live in, age, grade, area of study or expertise, and other things you feel might be relevant.
Welcome to Urban Paradise.