Ways to Get Involved
Whether you want to further conservation, learn more about nature or share your love of the outdoors, you’ve come to the right place. National wildlife refuges provide many opportunities for you to help your community and fish and wildlife by doing what you love. National wildlife refuges partner with volunteers, youth groups, landowners, neighbors and residents of urban and coastal communities to make a lasting difference. Find out how you can work with a refuge in your area to help make American lands healthier and communities stronger while doing something personally satisfying.
Volunteering
Volunteers are an essential part of operations at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, staffing the Visitor Center and Lighthouse, conducting wildlife surveys and assisting with biological studies, presenting interpretive walks and talks, constructing and maintaining refuge facilities and trails, improving habitat, and more! Bring your skills, talents, and energy; we’ll supply the rest, including training and uniforms.
Contact our volunteer coordinator Laurel Wilkerson or send us your Volunteer Service Application.
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Attention Volunteer Coordinator
8231 Beach Road
Chincoteague Island, VA 23336
If you are looking for an opportunity closer to home, Volunteer.gov is a great resource.
Internships
Interns are an essential part of operations at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Once selected, you will become a dynamic member of our skilled and motivated team. Together we will harness the power of communication, science, and innovation to increase the visitors’ enjoyment and understanding of wildlife refuges while actively monitoring and protecting the wildlife that call this refuge home. Sound like your kind of place? You supply the time and interest, and we’ll provide the experience of a lifetime.
Positions for 2024 now open. Click here for more information.
Questions?
Please contact Laurel Wilkerson about opportunities with visitor services.
Please contact Katie Oliver about biology opportunities.
Our Partners
Nature does not recognize human-made boundaries. In order to conserve our natural and cultural resources effectively, we must work with others to bridge these boundaries. Partnerships foster creative solutions to challenging situations and often the results are greater than the sum of the parts. Learn more about our local partners.
Assateague Island National Seashore (National Park Service)
Assateague Island straddles the Maryland-Virginia border. Here in Virginia, our refuge is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On the Maryland end of the island, the land is owned and managed by two separate agencies: the National Park Service and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. Assateague Island National Seashore is the name of the National Park located on Assateague Island in Maryland.
We work closely with our partners at Assateague Island National Seashore to welcome visitors to the island throughout the year. Park Rangers from the seashore provide interpretive and educational programming to our visitors and school groups. They also maintain the beach parking and bathhouse facilities and provide crucial safety services, such as lifeguards and law enforcement during the summer beach season.
Stop by Toms Cove Visitor Center, located next to the beach in Virginia, to enjoy their exhibits and learn more about Assateague Island National Seashore. If you need to contact them please call (757) 336-6577 (Virginia side) or (410) 641-1443 (Maryland side).
For more information on the Assateague State Park in Maryland, visit their website.
Accomack County School District
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 marked the Grand Opening of the Kegotank Elementary Schoolyard Habitat Outdoor Classroom! This joint project between Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Accomack County Schools was started by one of our park rangers, John Fitzroy. “Really the goal is to create a platform for teaching environmental education,” said Fitzroy. The refuge’s plan for this schoolyard habitat was ambitious, however the final product was shaped by the teachers at the elementary school. Thanks to the help of our partners, we have completed a space to be used by both children and pollinators for many years to come, and one that can serve as a model that can be replicated at other county schools. This project included a combination of contractors, community volunteers, teachers, and students to design, prep, and develop the space. Our partners include Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chincoteague Bay Field Station, Eastern Shore of Virginia Master Gardener Association, Virginia Cooperative Extension U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eastern Shore Soil & Water Conservation District, U.S. Coast Guard and Lowe's Home Improvement. We even have Eagle and Gold Scout projects onsite. You can view photos of the project during construction here.
