The British Antarctic Survey are recruiting Zoological Field Assistants to work at Bird Island, South Georgia.
Apply before May 31st, 2009
Bird Island is home to:
700,000 nocturnal petrels
65,000 breeding fur seals
50,000 pairs of penguins
14,000 pairs of albatrosses
With room for 2 more Zoological Field Assistants on 32 month contracts!
Take your career to the extreme and work in one of the most challenging and amazing places on earth. Antarctica is where cutting edge scientific investigation - on issues such as global warming and environmental change - is happening right now.
It's where your curiosity, ambition and sense of adventure will surely lead you and we're the team to take you there.You will need to be physically capable and medically fit to work in Antarctic conditions.
At Bird Island, South Georgia, two field assistants will be recruited by BAS to help carry out fieldwork on seabirds and seals. Bird Island is small (just 6 Km long) and forms part of the South Georgia archipelago where it is buffeted by prevailing westerlies and cold winds from Antarctica to the South. It has a high annual rainfall and variable snow cover during winter. In summer tens of thousands of seals and hundreds of thousands of seabirds breed there (including 3 species of penguins and 4 species of albatrosses). Up to 10 staff (ferried in and out by ship) live in a modern research station. There is a satellite link to the outside world and comfortable accommodation.
The successful candidates will work and live on Bird Island continuously between October or November 2009 and April 2012. They will each be partly responsible for one element of a monitoring program (seals, penguins or flying birds). The learning curve is very steep and so all candidates must have previous experience of handling appropriate wild animals. BAS will provide a finishing school (at Bird Island) to hone these skills.
Fieldwork in the breeding season at Bird Island will be very intensive with long hours of data preparation afterwards, so it is important to be organised. The data will be finalised using databases and by submitting reports, observing strict deadlines at frequent intervals. These, the assistant's finished products, will underpin key research into regional and global change processes based on seabird and seal life histories, reproductive success, behaviour and diet.
The successful applicants will remain on Bird Island continuously for 30 months, where they will live with 2 other residents and up to 6 summer only visitors. Whilst everyone will be assigned duties to keep the research station running (including cooking and cleaning), the residents will have extra responsibilities (after essential pre-deployment training), such as helping to provide medical cover.
The position of zoological field assistant offers a unique opportunity for highly motivated and disciplined individuals with relevant fieldwork skills and a keen interest in wildlife that will adapt well to small island living in a challenging sub-Antarctic environment.
Qualifications and experience:
Minimum of a science degree in biology or zoology, experience of remote, unsupervised fieldwork and animal handling skills (i.e. of appropriate wild animals in their natural habitat).
Applicants must be competent and efficient managing, analysing and reporting large data sets.
Meticulous time management, attention to detail and effective communication are important attributes.
Candidates should also be able to mix well in a small and vibrant science community.
Applying:
Appointments will be for a period of approximately 32 months.
Salary will be in the range of £ 20,424 - £28,091 pa pro-rata (depending on qualifications and experience).
Please quote reference: BAS 30/09
Closing date for receipt of application forms: 31st May 2009.
Interviews are to be held on 16th June 2009.
On-line application forms and further information are available on our website at
www.antarctica.ac.uk/employment
These are also available from the Personnel Section, British Antarctic Survey, High
Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET. Tel: +44 (0)1223 221508.
We welcome applications from all sections of the community. People from ethnic minorities are currently under-represented and their applications are particularly welcome.
Dirk Briggs
British Antarctic Survey