Volunteers and Interns

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers creating a level path surface for a trail that goes along the side of a hill

Weekend Trail Volunteers:

For people who are interested in working on trail building and are available on weekends for this there is a crew under the leadership of D&R Greenway Board Chairman, Alan Hershey who work most weekends—sometimes on Saturday and sometimes on Sunday—from 9:00am until about noon.  It does not matter if you are young or old, male or female—or even if you are weak or strong, there is a welcome mat for you.  All you need is the proper shoes for working outside and a good pair of gardening gloves and Alan will supply all the other tools.  If you would like to build trails on weekends contact Alan Hershey.

D&R Greenway's former Associate Director of Stewardship Jared Rosenbaum shows volunteers the plants in a woodland gap

Wednesday Morning Volunteer Crew:

Jim Amon and Jared Rosenbaum from D&R Greenway’s stewardship staff, lead volunteers from 9am-12pm on most Wednesdays.  They work on trail building, trail maintenance, and ecological restoration of the Greenway-owned preserves.  This crew works on several different sites in the course of a year and volunteers learn to identify native and alien invasive plants, the dynamics of the natural world and the pleasure of working on a good cause with like-minded people.  If this kind of opportunity appeals to you, please contact D&R Greenway’s Director of Stewardship Jim Amon or call 609.924.4646.

A crew from Novo Nordisk helped build 75 feet of boardwalk on a wet section of a woodland trail

Corporate Volunteers:

Corporations that have community service programs often come out and help the D&R Greenway land stewards on projects. These can be half day or full day projects, depending on the corporate needs. If you or your company would like to participate in this program, please contact D&R Greenway's Director of Stewardship Jim Amon or call 609.924.4646.

Work underway to improve water quality in waterways leading to the Delaware River. D&R Greenway is working with the local community in Cadwalader Park.

Urban Projects Volunteers:

Diana Raichel, D&R Greenway’s conservation biologist, works on special stewardship projects in Trenton and Bordentown and from time to time takes on large projects that utilize volunteers.  If you are interested in helping us in Trenton and Bordentown please contact Diana Raichel or call 609.924.4646.

D&R Greenway is currently working on an ecological restoration project in Trenton's historic Cadwalader Park to improve the quality of water entering the Delaware River and increase biodiversity in this highly urbanized area.  We have now completed the earthwork necessary to improve the stream hydrology and are now preparing to establish native plant communities in wetland creation areas.

Internship Opportunities

D&R Greenway Land Trust has internship programs for individuals interested in pursuing careers in the area of ecology, planning, conservation biology, botany and other subject areas. The first internship was established in memory of Neil Upmeyer, a member of the Board of Trustees of D&R Greenway Land Trust for 14 years, serving as Chairman from January 1998 to December 2001. Under his leadership, D&R Greenway Land Trust greatly expanded its capacity to preserve land. Greenway Meadows Park in Princeton is but one of the many significant properties protected under his leadership.

Click here to read about our 2012 Charles Evans Conservation Leader Intern, Kevin Michaels-Grant.

Summer 2012 interns
L-R: Gemma Milly, Native Plant Nursery Intern, Plant Science and Horticulture Program at Mercer County Community College; Trevor Klee, Geosciences major at Princeton University; Jason Warrington, Political Science/Environmental Policy major at Princeton University.

Background of the Charles Evans Conservation Leaders Award: Read press release announcing the award in 2010.

Background of the Upmeyer Internship:

Neil Upmeyer was Chairman of D&R Greenway's Board of Directors from 1998 to 2001. He and his wife Mimi Upmeyer were lifelong conservationists. Their spirit lives on at D&R Greenway and the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance.

In Neil Upmeyer's memory, D&R Greenway Land Trust has established The Upmeyer Internship in Land Preservation & Stewardship at the Johnson Education Center. Spearheaded by his good friend Jim Amon and funded by the generosity of Neil's friends and colleagues, the Upmeyer Internship is made available to graduate and undergraduate college students. Under the guidance of an advisor, the intern will dedicate 100 hours to a project in land preservation or stewardship. The intern's final report will be presented in a public forum at the Johnson Education Center. The intern receives a stipend and an invitation to attend all educational programs at the Johnson Education Center for a year.

This living legacy creates the next generation of land preservationists to follow in Neil's footsteps. Every Upmeyer intern is given an experience that we hope will transfer Neil Upmeyer's generosity, dedication, insight, and leadership to a new generation of environmental leaders.

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