Deadline: Mon, 01/01/2024 - 12:00pm Employer: The Natural Park Service Job Field: Other Job Type: Full Time Location: Regional/Multiple Job Description: The National Park Service is seeking to fund a 0.50 EFT (20 hours/week) Graduate Research Assistant beginning Fall Semester, 2024 to assist the NPS Southeast Coast Network (SECN) with its on-going landbird and anuran community monitoring programs. Acoustic monitoring data are captured using automated audio recording devices deployed throughout SECN park units. These units include coastal parks ranging from Canaveral National Seashore, FL north to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NC, as well as inland parks located in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama. Assistantship requirements include but are not limited to: analysis of audio recordings of landbird and or anuran vocalizations to determine species richness and occupancy; field work to deploy/retrieve audio recorders; database entry and management; and preparing reports (including maps and relevant figures). Field work will require some overnight travel and will involve extensive backcountry/wilderness hiking in sometimes challenging environments, but it will also afford the applicant the opportunity to experience areas of parks that are rarely visited by the public. Additionally, the candidate will develop an original research question which may be related to the position. Opportunities with ongoing field research in Georgia and Western North Carolina exist, and the scheduling of the position is flexible to allow for a field-based research component. Students selected for this Assistantship will be advised in their graduate work by Dr. Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. As such, competitive candidates will have the following skills: undergraduate degree in Wildlife Ecology or related discipline; exceptional ability to identify southeastern birds and/or anurans from their vocalizations, experience with backcountry hiking and navigation, basic landscape ecology principles, GIS, program R, Python or other programming language, and the ability to work independently with attention to detail. The position will be located at the SECN Headquarters in the UGA Whitehall Forest, in Athens, GA, and the candidate will work directly with the SECN wildlife biologist, Dr. Michael Parrish. Current salary rates for FY24 range from $2,385 to $2,579 per month depending on the degree being sought. Salary: $2,385 to $2,579 per month depending on the degree being sought How to Apply: If interested, please submit a CV, letter of interest (please describe your experience level with avian and anuran call ID and relevant field experience), current transcripts, contact information for two academic/professional references, and writing samples to Jeff Hepinstall-Cymerman and Michael Parrish. We will conduct in-person or zoom interviews and potential students must then apply and be admitted to The Graduate School at UGA. Application procedures can be found here: https://www.warnell.uga.edu/graduate/future-students. Application deadline: We will begin reviewing materials as they are received. Position expected to be filled by August 2024, but start dates are flexible.
