Overview

• Six-month position: 1 March – 31 August 2021
• Three-month position: 3 May – 30 July 2021

The Clifton Institute, in partnership with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, is launching a research program to investigate movements, territory use and foraging habitat selection of American Kestrels in the Piedmont region of northern Virginia. There is substantial interest from landowners in this region to support American Kestrel populations, which have been in decline in northeastern US over the past 30 years. Yet limited knowledge about how kestrels use their territories, and what habitats kestrels select for foraging throughout the breeding season, has limited our ability to recommend specific management actions for the species. We plan to deploy high-resolution, solar-powered GPS backpack transmitters to collect detailed knowledge of kestrel foraging habitat selection. Specifically, we seek to monitor how habitat selection responds to changes in agricultural habitats throughout the breeding season (e.g. growth and harvest of hay and commercial crops, growth of native meadows, changes in pasture quality).

The focus of these positions will be split between traveling to the territory of each tracked kestrel to remotely download tracking data, and conducting basic vegetation surveys in potential foraging habitats of each study bird. Vegetation surveys will be conducted in open habitats including hay fields, pastures, crops fields and meadows and will focus on metrics including vegetation height and density (no species ID will be required). Additional duties will include: 1) direct observations of study birds to correlate behavior data with tracking data and to ground truth tracking locations; 2) assistance with bird capture events; 3) basic GIS mapping of habitat boundaries within kestrel territories; 4) vegetation data entry and management of tracking data; 5) assistance with preliminary data analysis.  We expect about 80% of this position to be field-based, with the remaining time devoted to data entry and limited data analysis.

Required Skills/Experience

• Applicants should have a strong interest in wildlife and applied conservation
• Experience and comfort with field work in a range of weather and habitat conditions. Vegetation surveys in at least some locations will expose the technician to full sun, ticks, poison ivy and brambles and for at least part of the season will be conducted in extremely hot and humid conditions.
• Comfort with Microsoft Excel, which will be used for entry of raw vegetation data.
• Excellent communication skills, and professionalism when working with people from different backgrounds.
• Field work will include at least occasional interaction with landowners who are granting access to their property and positive communication with these partners is crucial.
• Ability to work independently but an interest and excitement to collaborate with team members. The position will involve work with additional project interns and students.
• Excellent organization skills and strong attention to detail.
• Valid US Driver’s License and ability to use personal vehicle for travel among study sites every day.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Preferred Skills/Experience

• B.S. or B.A. in wildlife management, wildlife ecology or a related field.
• Background in bird research including both behavioral observations and tracking bird movements.
• Basic R programming background – R will be used to manage tracking location data and manipulate and summarize vegetation field data
• Comfort with basic GIS work, ideally in R or QGIS including mapping of point locations, delineation and manipulation of polygon layers and similar operations.

Benefits: The successful applicant may expect to receive:

• $1,200 per month
• Free housing at the Clifton Institute (rural 900-acre property with 1,900 species of animals and plants documented so far!)
• Reimbursement for mileage driven on their personal vehicle for fieldwork ($0.58 per mile)
• Authorship on resulting publications as appropriate (https://tinyurl.com/rx6ebbh)

To apply: Please send the following materials in an email to (jobs@cliftoninstitute.org). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The deadline for applications is January 11, 2021.

• A 1-page cover letter describing your motivation and qualifications and why you are a good fit for this job
• A resume

Questions: Email any questions about this position to jobs@cliftoninstitute.org.

In the administration of its employment policies and practices, The Clifton Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status, matriculation, political affiliation or genetic information.