Museum Program Fellow - Keweenaw National Historical Park

Posted on 7/21/25

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS), is seeking a Museum Program Fellow to provide support to Keweenaw National Historical Park.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Start Date: 09/01/2025  

Estimated End Date: 02/16/2026 *a 24-week minimum commitment is required *

Location: Keweenaw National Historical Park, located at 25970 Red Jacket Road in Calumet Township, Michigan, is a popular tourist attraction that offers a fascinating look into the region's rich copper mining history. From 7,000 years ago to the 1900s, people mined copper in the Keweenaw area, with Native peoples using the copper to create tools and trade items. In the 1800s, a mineral rush brought investors and immigrants to the area, leading to the development of thriving industries and diverse communities.

The Midwest Region Museum Program is part of the Cultural Resources Program for Interior Regions 3, 4, 5 and provides program support functions for park museum collections. The MWR Museum Program supports development and coordination of service-wide policies, standards and procedures for managing museum collections, including natural, cultural, archival, and manuscript materials. MMP provides staff advice, technical assistance, and professional development pertaining to museum collections acquisition, documentation, preservation, protection, use, and disposal for the NPS. For more information, please visit the National Park Service website.

Position Overview: The ACE Fellow will work with the KEWE Park Curator and the Regional Museum Curator to provide collection management support to park and regional curatorial staff. The primary purpose of the position is to assist parks by assessing individual park museum program's museum collection through annual inventories, developing refinement plans, and preparing deaccession packages for the respective parks. The refinement plan project supports a priority listed in the Midwest Regional Museum Storage Facility Strategy (2022). The position will also assist with the management and inventory of other park museum collections. Duties will include:

• Prepare, organize, and inventory museum collections at other parks as assigned by the Park Curator and/or Regional Curator. Assist curator with packing collections, accountability of museum collections through inventories, and preparing accession and deaccession packages for Collections Committee review.
• Assist regional museum staff with planning and preparation for relocating collections from facilities at risk to multi-park repositories, using guidelines established in the Regional Museum Storage Facility Strategy (2022)
• Learn the Museum Collection Management System (MCMS) to assist parks with the transition and to ensure data fields contain appropriate entries
• Evaluate catalog records against NPS cataloging standards for the disciplines of art, archeology, archives, ethnology, history, biology, paleontology, and geology
• Performing routine museum maintenance activities such as environmental monitoring and pest management in the MWR Cultural Resources archives

Schedule: Full-time Monday to Friday; 8:00am – 4:30pm.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute 40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $800/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general information online www dot usaconservation.org/epic/#eligibility-requirements.

Housing: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or NPS. An allowance of $230/week will be provided to help offset the cost of housing, dispersed bi-weekly with the living allowance.

Travel Allowance: Will be provided by the Midwest Regional Museum Program.

Provided Training/Orientation: ACE members will receive position specific training and an orientation outlining ACE policies and procedures, clear guidance on prohibited activities, and networks for support. Specific training may include Museum Collections Management System (MCMS).

Qualifications

Required:

• Basic knowledge of professional museum accession, catalog, deaccession, and inventory procedures
• Working knowledge of database systems for museum collections management
• Members must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, as required by U.S. government contracts
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group.
• A current and valid form of ID (will be required to provide copies of IDs upon hiring)
• Willing to undergo and must pass the required two-part criminal history check
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members will need to complete bi-weekly timesheets, beginning of term feedback forms, end of term evaluations and for longer terms, a mid-term evaluation
• To learn more about eligibility requirements, please visit our website.

Preferred:

• Competitive applicants for this position can hold or be pursuing a minimum of a bachelor's degree and/or have relevant experience in subject areas such as history, museum studies, archeology, archives, geology, biology, paleontology, or other courses related to the management of museum collections. A master's degree, or work towards a graduate degree, is preferred.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel. Knowledge of Adobe Programs like Acrobat Pro.
• Ability and willingness to do repetitive tasks, reviewing catalog data, environmental monitoring, and museum housekeeping.
• Deep interest in museum management related to collections management.

Physical Demands, Work Environment and Working Conditions:

• Physical Demands: Requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, carrying, using hands to handle or feel, and reaching with hands and arms. Manual dexterity required for computer keyboard/mouse and other office equipment.
• Weight Lifted or Force Exerted: Frequently moves up to [4] lbs., ability to move up to [40] pounds.
• Environmental: Indoor, office environment conditions; indoor air quality is good and temperature is controlled.
• Noise Environment: Moderate noise such as in a business office with equipment and light traffic.
• Travel: Duties will require regular travel, typically at least one week per month.

To Apply: Please submit your resume, a cover letter demonstrating your interest and experience, and contact information for three professional/academic references to the online application page for this position on the ACE Job Board. Early consideration will be given as resumes are received. This position may close at any time. If you have any questions regarding this position please feel free to contact ACE EPIC Division Director Dave Bastian, at dbastian@usaconservation.org. EEO: American Conservation Experience provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, American Conservation Experience complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

EEO:  Employment or Service with ACE is based upon ability, qualifications, attitude, and job-related factors. Every qualified employee, member, or applicant has the same opportunity for recruitment, hire, training, transfer, promotion, compensation, demotion, termination, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, creed, national origin, pregnancy, ancestry, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital or parental status, political affiliation, ethnicity, hair texture or style, arrest record, caste, hereditary status, endogamy, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal law.