Mississippi River Green Team

The Mississippi River Green Team is a up to two-year employment and conservation program for Minneapolis youth between the ages of 14 and 16. The MWMO and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board created the Green Team as an opportunity for youth to have a mentored job experience, learn about environmental careers and acquire new skills.

Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board logo

Green Team members come from North, South and Northeast Minneapolis. Typical daily activities include working to prevent water pollution, removing invasive species, building rain gardens, planting trees and prairie plants, and assisting in citizen science projects. Youth have the chance to participate in the Mississippi River Green Team up to two years, and after those two years, they are a part of a supportive network that works with them to help secure jobs to expand their skills and get them ready for the future.

Apply today!
The 2024 Mississippi River Green Team application is now CLOSED! 2025 Application will open in Mid-January

Interested? Sign up for updates Here!

Contact

Mary Yang
Community Outreach Specialist
myang@mwmo.org or 612-746-4975

MRGT News

Mississippi River Green Team: Growing green careers, improving the urban watershed and creating environmental advocates.
The Nature Conservancy - October 27, 2021

Though the weather was hot and humid, it didn’t slow down the teenage members of the Mississippi River Green Team, who worked diligently while trading friendly, funny banter…

View More
MWMO, Nature Conservancy Partner to Forge New Environmental Career Pathways for Urban Teens
Blog Post - October 2, 2018

This summer, the MWMO began writing a new chapter in our efforts to recruit and mentor the next generation of environmental leaders…

View More
Urban Boatbuilders Partnership Brings Canoe-Building to the MWMO
Blog Post - August 21, 2018

Over the course of nine weeks, members of the Mississippi River Green Team and teens from ESNS are putting in approximately 70 hours of work to build a beautiful skin-on-frame wooden canoe…

View More
Ruth Murphy Brings a Lifetime of Community Building to the Mississippi River Green Team
Blog Post - July 5, 2018

For more than 10 years, Ruth Murphy has played the role of unofficial godmother to a group of Minneapolis teens…

View More
Mississippi River Green Team Alumni Find Environmental Jobs
Blog Post - Sept. 12, 2016

For nearly 10 years, a group of Minneapolis teenagers have patrolled the watershed, pulling invasive plants, cleaning up parks, maintaining rain gardens and monitoring dragonfly populations.

View More
Catching Dragonflies with the Mississippi River Green Team
Blog Post - July 26, 2016

A typical day of a Mississippi River Green Team member consists of working in locations full of fearsome predators: dragonflies!

View More
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
StoryCorps NPS Centennial - April 2016

NPS Ranger David Wiggins talks to Connie Xiong (...) Connie was 15 when she started working with the "Mississippi Green Team" that Wiggins helped establish.

View More

I’ve always loved being outside, and the Mississippi River Green Team was my first real job. I enjoyed all the work we did, and seeing the results when we were finished. That’s when I realized I really loved working outdoors. As time went on, I was informed every year of new job opportunities thanks to the MWMO. Many doors were opened for me, and I also got many references.

Aaron McCalip, MRGT member, 2011-2013